Chapter Text
Mitya can still remember the moment he awakened.
He remembers standing in front of his desk with a notebook in hand and a pen on the other, about to write some of the notes from the Kresnik Torch reports that day. He scribbled something messily, giving himself a reminder to clean up his notes later.
He remembers the feeling of a headache coming, probably due to how he stayed up all night creating diagrams for the project assigned to him and trying to experiment various formulas that hopefully could work, which to no avail. His skin felt hot, flushed as if he was exposed to a heated Kresnik Kristall. Mitya doesn’t get fevers often, but perhaps staying up late—even getting less sleep that could be considered normal—for weeks now is finally taking a toll on his body.
He loosened the hand shaped scarf around his neck, trying to alleviate the heat spreading in his body.
There was a static feeling in the air that day.
He vividly remembers how the hairs on his skin started to stand as if he was being electrocuted at low intensity, which at first he didn’t really focus on. He was standing in the middle of the laboratory where his desk is stationed, equipment needed for their research powered by electro surrounding him. He was so focused on his work that he really didn’t give it much thought.
He wrote in his notebook his new discoveries, something along the lines that dungeons tend to open where there’s a high amount of elemental energy present. Even a higher chance for it to open when said energy is unstable around the area, he noted.
Mitya felt like their research is making some progress, no matter how slow it might be. Progress is progress, after all. He loved making new discoveries, learning about the truth on why these rift gates opened in the first place.
So lost in his thoughts, he barely felt the faint rumble that started to disturb the underground laboratory. He continued scribbling on his notebook until the rumble made him stumble forward, dropping the notebook and pen on his desk.
All of a sudden, his headache intensified, eliciting a gasp from him. He groaned, clutching his head on his hands and dropping his upper body on the desk in front of him. His vision turned white before small dark spots appeared.
His breathing turned ragged—he felt like he’s choking on air. An electro infused air. Mitya grasped desperately on his desk and tried to stabilize himself but the rumble continued, making him drop forward again from its intensity.
Mitya remembers someone approaching him. His vision cleared for a bit, still blurry, and saw someone wearing a white lab coat standing in front of him. He couldn’t hear what they’re saying properly, voice muffled like he’s being submerged underwater.
All he remembered after that was someone shouting his name before everything turned black for a second.
The next moment he remembered was the scent of metal, dust, and sand surrounding him.
He remembers opening his eyes to a smoke covered laboratory.
Everything around him was a mess: broken lab equipment scattered on the ground, various parts and metals thrown around, most of the flasks and test tubes broken from whatever explosion that happened. Mitya remembers blinking in confusion; unsure of what exactly happened.
Despite his legs feeling like it transformed into a slime mucus, he tried to stand up only for him to drop down on the ground with a loud metallic thud. The desk that was behind him was rendered into a purple colored dust and only then Mitya realized he’s surrounded by it.
There were loose tubes against the wall, some sparks flying out of the electric circuits with little bolts of lightning.
Mitya remembers feeling helpless for once in his life. The headache was still present, making a persistent throbbing around his eyes. He clutched his head once again, a pained groan escaping his parted lips.
Then, he heard a small sound in front of him before a glowing white box appeared. It was so bright that Mitya felt like he was temporarily blinded. The white glowing box slowly transformed to a semi opaque blue one, before his Fatui profile picture appeared followed by texts that Mitya thought he’d only see on some of the Fatui personnel’s records.
Name: Dmitry
Age: 29
Location: Snezhnograd, Snezhnaya
Affiliation: Royal Energy Commission | Zapolyarny Palace
Awakening Record: Guide (S+) / Recovery and damage amplification (Unconfirmed)
Element: Electro
Additional Data: First S+ Guide from Snezhnaya. Head scientist of the ◾◾◾◾ Project. Transferred from Royal Energy Commission to the Armory Palace for ◾◾◾◾ Project. No other information recorded.
Mitya probably stared at it for too long, unable to make a coherent thought until the box disappeared with a shutting off sound. Feeling like his energy was starting to fail him, he dropped back on the ground, lying on his side as he stared at the purple dust scattered around the floor.
The clean up and restoration would probably take months, he thought to himself helplessly.
His white hair splayed on the floor messily as he lay down. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard footsteps from the entrance’s direction. He kept his eyes close, listening to the footsteps approaching his direction.
Everything felt loud in his ears and it’s making his headache worse–the throbbing continued even with his eyes closed. Having been newly awakened (and as an S+ guide at that), his senses had definitely heightened; he can sense the elemental energy of whoever the person was. He heard the sands infused with electro crunch under the heavy boots, slow footsteps approaching him until Mitya heard them stop in front of him.
The scientist remembered opening his eyes to be greeted with a pair of black boots with silver and golden ornaments. He slowly lifted his head up and tried to lift his arm with the little strength left in him when the figure kneeled in front of him, his purple coat hanging loosely around him. His strength failed him, arm dropping back down on the floor with a pathetic thud.
He cursed in his mind for being so weak at that moment. He’s never felt this pathetic before.
Mitya remembers the person talking to him, his unfocused gaze looking directly at the man’s lips. He was saying something he couldn’t understand, deep voice still muffled and Mitya almost complained out loud. It’s as if someone plugged cotton inside his ears.
Just when Mitya was about to give up and lie down on the grungy floor, he felt something moving under him. Something was trying to wiggle out of his back and Mitya just didn’t have any strength to move anymore.
He saw a flash of blue in the corner of his eye.
Before Mitya could even process what actually just happened, he’s face to face with the person in front of him. Dark eyes looked at him startled, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly agape. He’s handsome.
Mitya couldn’t focus on what the man was saying when the deep purple eyes were fixated on him. He saw his hand shaped scarf clutching the man’s coat collars tightly and his eyes widened for a split second before he felt the air around him stilled.
The electro infused air intensified around them, shocking both Mitya and the person with him. He can still remember the way the man looked at him, eyes slightly wide as Mitya’s energy surrounded them, small lightning bolts transferring from Mitya to the man through the now sentient scarf holding him in place.
He felt the need, perhaps even an instinct, to guide someone and this man just happened to be in that laboratory the moment he awakened. Mitya wasn’t sure if the electro energy around him was his guiding abilities in action, but the way the dark purple aura around the taller male quickly dissipated confirmed his suspicion.
Mitya wasn’t sure when he had grabbed the taller male’s hand, entwining their fingers together tightly. There was a light tingling buzz on his arm and if this was any other moment, Mitya would be probably jumping in excitement from guiding someone for the first time. But his strength was failing him, completely aware of how his powers were going haywire at that moment. Instead, he just looked at their touching hands in fascination.
He heard the black haired male mumble something but Mitya couldn’t quite catch it. All he remembers was how deep the voice was and almost soothing to listen to.
Despite his exhaustion slowly catching up to him, he finally looked up and managed to grin at the other male. “So this is guiding,” He says, voice tinged with excitement. His lilac eyes locked with the other male’s deep purple ones and there’s something in those eyes that Mitya couldn’t quite yet understand.
Still, he gathered up his remaining strength and grinned at him. “I’m Mitya, by the way!”
Mitya remembers the way everything started spinning around him, his eyes losing its focus once again, the taller male’s voice getting more and more muffled.
Then, everything turned pitch black.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
A knock on his laboratory’s door breaks Mitya out of his reminiscing.
Apparently, reminiscing about his awakening as an S+ Guide is not an efficient way to kill time.
The clock reads 14:02 and Mitya resists the urge to groan out loud when he realizes that it’s only been a few minutes since he stopped writing down in his messy notebook. Failed formulas for the device that he’s been researching are scribbled messily on his notebook, and he’s just thankful that his sentient scarf is there to remind him to rewrite it once again.
Soon after his awakening, Mitya finds out that this sentient scarf also awakened alongside him. His electro and guiding powers extended on his scarf, giving it some of his own consciousness to the once inanimate object. He finds himself getting used to the sentient object, even acting as his assistant sometimes.
His awakening, Mitya finds out a few weeks after, became the talk of all Snezhnograd for three whole months.
The effects of his awakening was nothing like the usual awakening of the C-class to A-class Guides existing in Snezhnaya. Guides usually have a calm awakening, having little to no effect around the surrounding area where they awakened. Some would even say that Guides would have a gentle aura around them the moment they awaken, even providing some guiding to any Sentinels around.
Mitya doesn’t know if he’s just unlucky to have a disastrous awakening. Literally.
Of course, he made use of his time to help restore the Energy Commission laboratory, even fixing the broken laboratory equipment himself. He even modified some of it for efficient use. However, Lord Regrator wasn’t happy when he found out the budget needed to replace the broken equipment. Even Lady Marionette was displeased upon finding out some of the broken robots that guarded the place.
They couldn’t blame Mitya entirely. How would he even know he would awaken at that moment?
Despite the disastrous awakening, Snezhnaya celebrated him as their first top ranking guide. Having no S+ guide for five hundred years, it was as if Snezhnaya was given a gift from the heavens itself. Still, it doesn’t exempt Mitya from his work as a researcher.
He wouldn’t even dare to give up his job.
He loves being a researcher. He loves discovering new things, satiating his curiosity with new information and finding out the truth. He loves spending his time trying out new formulas to improve his current and existing research, even tinkering with objects from time to time.
And does Mitya love tinkering with things.
He remembers when his hunter friend, who’s also a Sentinel, asked him to modify and upgrade his gun. Mitya was excited, eyes lighting up as he asked Alyosha if he was being serious to which the other confirmed. Even his scarf seemed ecstatic; Mitya knew that if it had two hands, it’d probably be clapping in excitement. He knew that his friend was saving up some mora before asking him to modify his beloved gun that he uses for hunting.
And since it was some kind of passion project for Mitya anyway, he charges him a huge discount, even telling Alyosha that he doesn’t need to pay. The suggestion was immediately rejected, which he expected, but Alyosha did promise that he’d bring him some food that he cooked himself, knowing Mitya would sometimes forget to eat when he’s in a flowstate.
And who is Mitya to refuse free food?
So, it frustrates him to no end when he couldn’t find out the reason why rift gates had opened.
Five hundred years ago was the first instance of rift gates opening. Abyssal monsters run amok the world, destroying each nation of Teyvat with their abyssal powers. No one knows, even their own archon who’s been alive to witness the first opening, why such cataclysmic phenomena had happened.
They dubbed the first SS+ rift gate as the “Black Sea Rift.” Abyssal monsters and corrosion ran rampant during that time, nearly wiping all of the prospering civilizations of Teyvat.
Mitya would sometimes wonder, during the times he is alone surrounded by darkness and lying wide awake in his bed, if the gods had forsaken this world for it to be plunged into darkness, only for humanity to awaken and strike back; to fight for their own kind.
He remembers reading from books and journals, when he was still a young kid, the first record of awakeners. The once normal humans awakened with superhuman strength, each abilities varying from one wielder to another with their elemental powers. These awakeners would be what the modern people of Teyvat call as Sentinels.
Sentinels are the ones who are sent out to the battlefield to deal with rifts and dungeons, purging out the monsters that disturb and damage their world. Each Sentinel has unique abilities–some have mastery with wielding weapons and elemental energies at their full control and will. Some other Sentinels have the ability to forge weapons, robotics, and even warfare equipment ranking from A+ to S+.
Mitya is familiar with some of the top ranking Sentinels who work with the Fatui, such as Tartaglia, Arlecchino, and Sandrone, who were often sent out by the Tsaritsa to raid dungeons. Even his friend Alyosha is an A+ ranked Sentinel, though he works independently.
Along with the awakening of the Sentinels were the Guides, whose primary role was to stabilize the Sentinel's powers and even give them damage amplification during battles. Guiding requires both Sentinel and Guide to come in contact with each other, either performing a basic guiding or something more. It’s the Guide’s duty to not let these Sentinels go beyond the limits of their abilities, which would result in them rampaging before slowly transforming into the very same monsters that they slay.
Mitya, as if by some miracle, just happens to awaken as a Guide.
Snezhnaya must be such an unlucky nation for them to not have an S+ guide awakened for five hundred years until three months ago.
Whenever Mitya thinks too much about such things and tries to go beyond such thoughts, it would end up with him having an unexplainable painful headache, momentarily forgetting what he was even thinking. As if someone, be it an entity or the gods themselves are stopping him from finding out the truth.
Such is the cruelty of this world.
So cruel, Mitya thinks, depriving a scientist of the one thing they are looking for the most.
“Mr. Dmitry.” A deep voice calls out from the laboratory’s door, yanking him back to reality. When Mitya turns his head to its direction, he sees the man he’d been waiting to see for the whole day since the moment he dropped him off in his lab.
Apparently, his bodyguard has a prior appointment he needs to attend for the whole morning, leaving Mitya alone in his laboratory, completely unguarded. Which was a bad idea from his guard since Mitya could run off from his work any time. It’s to his surprise that the black haired male decided to fully trust the scientist to be alone, and for five hours no less.
Valeriy stands there, waiting for him to reply. The usual blank face of the major greets him, the dark purple eyes that Mitya loves looking at when he thinks the major isn’t looking, looks back at him as if eyeing Mitya’s reaction.
He pointedly ignores the stare and the way his face heats up.
“Had your lunch already, Sarge?” Mitya asks in lieu of a greeting, waving a hand to signal Valeriy to come inside his laboratory instead of waiting outside like some sort of… bodyguard? He’s still not used to having a personal bodyguard following him around, even though it’s been three months since Valeriy was assigned to him by The Jester.
Valeriy nods at his question, letting out a small hum in response. He places a paper bag filled with food from Mitya’s favorite shop in Zolnyy on a vacant table. It makes Mitya’s stomach grumble from the scent seeping out of the bag.
In his three months of working as Mitya’s bodyguard, he already knows a lot about the scientist, picking up even the smallest details about him, even taking notice of his habits and mannerisms. The first month of him being Mitya’s bodyguard was the most difficult time for the both of them; Mitya is still getting used to his own Guide abilities and having someone follow him everywhere.
Meanwhile, Valeriy is also getting used to Mitya’s antics—from his weird eating habits, to the way Mitya has this habit of playing hooky from work. He made a mental note on which places the scientist would often visit, which routes he would take to make finding the other easier.
Along the way, he already picked up all of Mitya’s favorites.
Mitya remembers the day when he was summoned to The Jester’s office once he finished his verification process as a registered Guide. What he didn’t expect upon entering the large office was to see the same man he kept on thinking about during the day he awakened. He still remembers the way the dark purple eyes slightly glowed during their encounter, the feeling of his larger hand holding his smaller one, and the soft yet deep voice speaking to him that day.
Mitya wondered days after that if he was ever going to see the handsome face again.
As if some god was listening to him, he came face to face with the same man plaguing his thoughts.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the taller male’s deep eyes, which were already looking back at Mitya’s lilac ones. He resisted the urge to flinch, his sentient scarf wiggled just a bit behind him before it floated upwards and gave the two men inside the office a casual wave. Mitya flushed, taking a hold of his scarf in his hands, whispering to it like a mother scolding his child. He still needed to get used to his scarf’s antics.
A small box popped out of thin air, almost startling him out of his wits. All of these new things that kept randomly popping out were all new to him.
He cleared his throat as he collected his composure, his scarf giving him a soothing head rub in the process. Mitya eyed the written data inside the box, absorbing it with speed only seen from an expert scientist.
Name: Valeriy
Age: 34
Location: Snezhnograd, Snezhnaya
Affiliation: Royal Armory Palace | Fatui
Awakening Record: Sentinel (S) | Tank, energy absorption, melee and grenadier Sentinel
Element: Electro
Additional Data: Head of the Special Assignments Battalion, Grenadier Guards, First Regiment. No other information recorded.
Oh, so he’s an S-class awakener, too.
Mitya tried to ignore the pointed stare coming from the taller male as he walked towards Pierro’s table. “Lord Pierro, you summoned me?”
Pierro ushered both of them to sit on the chairs in front of his desk and handed them stacks of papers after a second. It was Mitya’s verification results from the Snezhnaya Awakeners Center. He skimmed through the data printed on it, already having the knowledge of what was written since he was handed the same papers beforehand.
He flipped through the next pages until he reached the page about the compatibility results of him and Valeriy.
Compatibility: 95.02%
“What does this mean, sir?” Mitya looked up from the paper and towards Pierro. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Valeriy looking at their director as well.
“You two have the highest compatibility in terms of Sentinel and Guide bonds.” Pierro placed his hand on top of the papers, looking at them with seriousness. “As per the Tsaritsa’s orders, she requested to have you, Valeriy,” he continued, looking at Valeriy, “be Dmitry’s personal bodyguard and him as your Guide.”
Pierro’s explanation mostly came from how they were the only ones with the highest compatibility rate, even amongst the top ranking Harbingers. Mitya’s thoughts were confirmed when Pierro told him that it was due to them being both electro wielders and that there was a higher chance for an effective guiding between them as well.
It took about an hour of briefing on what they both needed to do. It was mostly on Valeriy’s side as Mitya’s personal bodyguard, something along the lines of it was his duty to protect Mitya at all cost from any harm, especially since he is Snezhnaya’s first S+ Guide. Mitya didn’t remember what they were mostly talking about after that part, already tuned out to what they were saying.
All he could remember was when Valeriy might have thought that he was out of earshot already, unknowing that he was still behind the slightly opened door from Pierro’s office.
“I would like to avoid any guiding from Mr. Dmitry, unless it is absolutely necessary, sir.” He heard Valeriy say. His voice was polite yet clipped. His breath caught in his throat, heart skipping a beat when he heard his name coming from the taller male.
He heard Pierro ask. “May I ask why?”
Mitya couldn’t hear what Valeriy’s reason was, voice coming out muffled behind the door. Whatever his reason was, Mitya couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. And curious, too.
Sure, he just recently awakened and couldn’t even control his own powers the moment they met. And he might have overwhelmed the other male by the immense energy he was releasing during that day. Probably. Most likely. Still, he could have given Mitya a chance.
He then heard Pierro tap the stack of papers on his table. “Very well, do as you deem fit, Major Valeriy.” He paused. “Although, I would still advise you to receive guiding from time to time, lest you want the toxins to build up inside your body.”
Valeriy replied courtly. “Yes, Lord Jester.”
Mitya walked away as fast as he could, before Valeriy could catch him.
Three months later, he’s still Mitya’s personal bodyguard. At this point, he still finds it quite amusing that a mere scientist like him got a personal bodyguard to follow him around all the time.
The level-headed man never once uttered a complaint about Mitya or about his job as his bodyguard. Mitya would have thought that Valeriy would be going back to his previous work once he realized how stubborn the scientist can be, to the point of trying to escape from him just so he could slack off from work.
Mitya eyes Valeriy for a moment, taking notice of the faint purple aura surrounding his body. He frowns as he chews on his food. When was the last time Valeriy received any guiding?
“Sarge, are you feeling okay?” He asks instead. He takes a sip of his coffee from his favorite drink shop in Zolnyy as he waits for Valeriy’s reply. It was actually Odette and Alyosha who recommended him to that place. Their drinks taste so good that Mitya had convinced Valeriy to try out some of their local teas.
He sees the taller male hesitate before giving out a reply. It’s as if he already knows why Mitya asked in the first place. “I am quite alright, Mr. Dmitry.”
He ignores the way his skin tingles a bit from the way his name rolls off Valeriy’s tongue so smoothly. Letting out an unconvinced hum, he continues sipping on his coffee, still eyeing the faint aura around him. Valeriy must have noticed the way he’s looking at him and places down the book he’s holding back to its shelf.
“Is there something wrong?”
Mitya lets out a chuckle, setting down the empty cup on the table. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to receive any guiding from me?” He flashes him a smile, even though he knows his idea is going to be rejected. Again. He eventually looks down at the empty cup, swirling the remaining droplets inside. “But of course, it’s fine if you don’t want to.”
He keeps his tone light even if he actually wanted Valeriy to say yes and accept his guiding. He still couldn’t help but feel disappointed, especially since he was assigned to be Valeriy’s Guide. But there he is, rejecting Mitya’s offer.
As if hearing his thoughts, his scarf wraps itself around Mitya’s arm and gives him a soothing rub.
He hears Valeriy clear his throat. Mitya lifts his head so fast he almost feels dizzy, his scarf even pausing its actions. “I appreciate the offer,” he replies. The white haired male almost misses the way the tips of his ears are slightly pink; it’s a good thing he’s really paying attention to his guard. “I’m also taking medication to help me stabilize my powers.”
His guard could be so stubborn sometimes. Why would he resort to medication when he is literally right there to stabilize him?
When Mitya asked him for the first time, the major reasoned that it was something related to his duty to protect him. Mitya doesn’t quite understand what he means and decides not to press him any further. Valeriy would probably tell him if he wants to.
“You have a meeting with The Jester in exactly fifteen minutes,” Valeriy reminds him, watching the way Mitya cleans up the boxes and cup from his meal before he uses his ability to throw away the paperbag on the trashcan by the corner. Mitya’s scarf gives him a thumbs up as an appreciation.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.” The scientist plops down on his seat once again, ignoring the way Valeriy shoots him a disapproving look.
Crossing his arms, Valeriy only looks at him. “Do not even think about running away.” His voice is low as he speaks. “He wants to know about your progress on your research.”
“Alright, alright.” Mitya sighs, “Now stop looking at me like that, Sarge.”
Exactly fifteen minutes later, he finds himself standing inside the meeting room. Leave it to Valeriy to ensure Mitya arrives on time, otherwise he’d probably be late to this meeting. He remembers Odette telling him about how Valeriy is strict on keeping things on schedule, even in the most mundane things.
A Fatui personnel is setting up the projector while Mitya sits on the side, scribbling something in his notebook. A guard from Valeriy’s team keeps guard just beside the door, watching everything unfold.
The meeting room is filled with staff from the Energy Commission and the Royal Armory Palace. Aside from Pierro, some members of the Harbingers also attended the meeting.
As soon as the set up is finished, Mitya starts updating everyone inside the room about the progress of his research.
The Tsaritsa has tasked him, along with the Energy Commission scientists, to create a device that they could utilize in order to predict the exact locations and times when a rift gate would spawn. On paper, it seems like something that could be easily created with the resources that they need. Contrary to this, Mitya can confirm that creating a device for this specific phenomena is harder than it looks.
Both rifts and dungeons are dimensional spaces that spew out a large amount of abyssal monsters and creatures. Rifts are classified through ranks B+ to SS+, just like the one that opened five hundred years ago.
Multiple rift gates can open at the same time in different locations, which makes it extremely dangerous, especially for non-awakeners, as its abyssal muck can spread and cause corrosion around a large range of areas from where it spawned.
Dungeons, on the other hand, are smaller and weaker versions of rift gates. Mitya remembers reading from one of his academic journals inside his lab describing dungeons as something of a resource-rich environment. They’re classified through ranks C- to A. Once the dungeon master is slain, Sentinels can claim the dungeon as their own. In addition, unnecessary dungeons are closed by Sentinels especially when it really doesn’t come with useful loot.
Multiple of Snezhnaya’s resources, like the Kresnik Kristall, come from dungeons that the Sentinels claimed are registered under the Snezhnograd Veche, overseen by the mayor.
“The unpredictability of where the rift gates would spawn causes a huge set back on our research,” Mitya states, his usual carefree expression replaced by seriousness as he speaks in front of the present Harbingers, Energy Commission scientists, and Armory Palace troops.
He waves his hand on top of the projector. The data being presented dissipates before pictures of abyssal creatures, faunas, and other resources start to appear one by one.
“However, as I was observing the recently collected fauna from a dungeon in Fellfrost Peak, I noticed something quite interesting.” Mitya clicks on a picture of a blue-colored flower, zooming it out along a picture of a similar looking plant. “It appears that some of the species found inside the dungeons are the same ones found in the Black Sea Rift. Well.. according to my research, anyway.”
“Interesting,” Childe hums, nodding his head.
Mitya gives him an appreciative smile, gleeful at the compliment coming from the Harbinger. With his index finger, he swipes down to a picture of a cadaver from an abyssal creature. “This is the remains of a rifthound wolf found in one of the dungeons that closed two years ago in the Volkodlak Tundra area.” He then shows them a different picture—it’s an excerpt from one of his academic books describing rifthounds coming out of the Black Sea Rift.
He proceeds to show them pictures of various dungeons’ environmental structures and other resources that were also found in the large rift that opened millennia ago.
People inside the meeting room start to mutter amongst themselves. Before Mitya could even forget what he’s about to say, he clears his throat to gather their attention once again.
“My hypothesis is that the dungeons that opened here in Snezhnaya are connected to the Black Sea Rift based on the images I have shown you.” He feels everyone’s eyes look at him, yet his confidence didn’t waver. He continues, “I believe that by starting on a smaller scale, by extracting and using a small amount of the energy cores that are usually found powering the dungeons, we can create a prototype version of this gadget. And with this, we might be able to also predict when and where a dungeon would spawn.”
Mitya, as soon as he finishes speaking, accidentally makes eye contact with Valeriy, who’s sitting in front of his team. His gaze is so intense that it almost makes him fidget in front. Thankfully, after a few seconds, Valeriy looks away while crossing his arms.
What’s his problem?
He turns his attention away from the handsome face and back to the audience.
“If it’s possible, I would like to collect some specimens coming from a dungeon, Lord Jester.” Mitya looks at Pierro expectantly, beaming when he sees the old man nod.
“Mitya, I will send you out on an expedition in three days along with Valeriy,” Pierro proposes. “And during this expedition, you will be the troop’s Guide. I’ll leave the planning to you, Major Valeriy.”
His eyes widened in surprise. It’s his first time being sent out to an expedition, and with Valeriy, too. He feels both excitement and nervousness inside him; he grips his hands tightly to stop himself from shaking.
Valeriy raises his hand politely, grabbing Pierro’s attention. “May I ask what dungeon are we going in? Dungeons tend to have different environmental disorders from one another. I would like to bring the top ranking soldiers in my team for Mr. Dmitry’s safety.”
“There’s a recently opened dungeon in the southeast part from Morepesok, I suggest we raid that dungeon before anyone else does. It even looks like it’s an A-class rank.” Childe then looks at Pierro, “Director, may I be the one to accompany them in their expedition?”
“Granted.” Pierro nods.
Mitya blinks, processing the whole thing. He’s going on an expedition, with both Valeriy and a Harbinger?!
He sees Childe turn to him, giving him a thumbs up. “Rest assured our Guide would be safe in our hands. We’re S-class Sentinels, after all.”
“Please,” Pantalone laughs. “Spare the bragging, Childe.”
Mitya feels his scarf swish behind him and he immediately takes a hold of it before it could do anything ridiculous. Pantalone’s tone probably came off badly for his scarf. Not that he could blame it.
“Just make the financial reports for this expedition once it's done.”
With a practiced smile, Mitya replies. “Of course, Lord Regrator.”
The meeting is dismissed a few minutes after, once everything is settled and ready for the expedition in three days.
Mitya walks back to his laboratory, Valeriy following silently beside him. Groaning, he rubs his stomach after it releases a soft grumble since he tends to be hungry after a long presentation. He couldn’t wait for his work to end—he just wants to lay down on his soft bed and maybe stay up late reading his novels.
He feels his scarf give him a pat on the head before ruffling his already messy white hair. “Hey!”
For some reason, he finds himself wanting to be patted on the head by Valeriy, too.
Giving in to his thoughts, he turns around so fast he almost bumps his face on Valeriy’s armor. The only thing stopping him from doing so was the strong, muscled arm that wraps around his waist, steadying him and holding him close.
When Mitya looks up, he finds himself gazing directly at Valeriy’s face. His usual blank face is replaced with a slightly worried one, thick eyebrows scrunching together a bit.
Mitya never knew his face could rival a Krenisk Torch with how hot it feels.
“Be careful.” Valeriy’s voice sounds so deep in his ears, especially in this proximity. It definitely makes his face heat up more and heart race a bit faster than usual.
He laughs, trying to hide the way his face feels hot but with the way Valeriy is looking at him, he knows the attempt is futile. “Ah, my apologies. I must’ve been a bit out of it, hehe… You know, from the long presentation and what not.”
“You did great.”
His face feels ten times hotter than before. Come on, Mitya! Get a grip, you’re twenty-seven years old, not a teenager!!
In an attempt to hide how fast his heart is currently beating, Mitya shoots Valeriy with a teasing smile, even going so far as to place his hands on the other’s chest, giving it a teasing pat. “Aww, you mean that, Sarge?” He relishes in the way Valeriy looks at him in surprise. “You flatter me.”
The taller male clears his throat, eyes closing for a brief second. The tight grip around the scientist’s waist loosens, and he finally lets go of his hold on Mitya.
“I am merely stating a fact, Mr. Dmitry.” Valeriy lets out a sigh. “In any case, you ought to prepare for the upcoming expedition. You need to take an ample amount of rest since the location might be in a sub-zero level due to the dungeon.”
Mitya flashes him a smile, both him and his scarf giving him a salute. “You got it, Sarge!”
“And please, don’t sneak off from your work.”
He only gives the taller male a nod, still smiling. “Of course.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
“You’re going on an expedition?”
Vodyanitsa’s spoon falls from her grasp and it makes a clinking sound against the teacup in front of her. Mitya just smiles when few people turn their heads in their direction from the sound, his scarf even giving them a small wave as if nothing happened.
It’s half past eleven on a busy Thursday morning and Mitya has already sneaked out from his laboratory to hangout with the prima donna of the Korolevskiy Theater. His meet up with Vodyanitsa isn’t even planned; he’s just sitting inside one of the shops in Snezhnograd, enjoying his warm cup of coffee as he scribbles away in his notebook when Vodyanitsa spotted him on her day off.
He’s supposed to go back to the Armory Palace as soon as he finishes his coffee before Valeriy could even suspect that Mitya has been gone. However, it’s already been an hour, maybe even two, since he left the laboratory. Might as well just take his time outside. He might even gather some inspiration for his research or something.
Mitya and Vodyanitsa have been catching up on some things but he doesn’t remember mentioning anything about their upcoming expedition.
Still, he gives the fae a nod. “How did you know that? I’m pretty sure I didn’t mention anything about that… Or did I?”
“Odette told me about it. Said that it’s been talked about between some of the Fatui personnel.” Oh, that makes sense.
Vodyanitsa rests her chin on the back of her hands, giving him her undivided attention. There’s a familiar twinkle in her bright eyes as she gives the scientist a knowing smile. He’s been subjected to that same smile multiple times already, especially when she wants to hear gossip from Mitya.
“Sooo…” Vodyanitsa trails, beaming. “How’s your research been doing lately?”
Mitya knows exactly what she means. In other words, “how’s everything between you and your bodyguard?”
Sighing, Mitya leans back on his chair. “Well, everything’s fine. Still a slow progress.” It’s true for both of his research and everything between his bodyguard and him.
“Still?” Her round eyes grow slightly wide, an incredulous expression written on her face. Mitya could only give her a nod.
Vodyanitsa’s one of the first people who knew about his arrangement with Valeriy. She even knows about Valeriy’s refusal to accept Mitya’s guiding, even finding it ridiculous because who rejects a guiding from an S+ Guide?
“Odette’s completely right about him being such a stickler to schedules,” Mitya says with a laugh. “He doesn’t even know I’m out of the Armory Palace right now.”
She gives him an unimpressed look. “Really now?”
“Anyway, it’s already been three months and he still calls me by my real name,” says Mitya with a slight huff. “It’s like he’s really putting some distance between us.”
“Oh, you poor thing.” She’s totally messing with him. He feels a cold sweat run down the sides of his head when she suddenly grins. “Distance you say…” Her voice trails for a bit. She taps a well manicured finger on her bottom lip thoughtfully. “But that’s not what I saw between you two last week.”
“Last week?” His voice cracks, knowing exactly what she’s talking about. “You mean–”
She nods her head excitedly, eyes shining in mirth as she giggles. “When Major Valeriy literally carried you in his arms.”
He feels his face heat up from the memory–the feeling of Valeriy’s strong arm around his waist still etched into his mind. Mitya can still fully remember the strength that Valeriy displayed as he carried him back to the Armory Palace after his futile attempt at escaping.
Vodyanitsa’s non-stop giggles do nothing to alleviate how hot his face feels.
Mitya buries his face in his hands in embarrassment. His scarf does the same.
“He is so much your type, Mitya.” He groans out loud. And Vodyanitsa’s not even completely wrong–Valeriy is exactly his type.
Before Mitya can say anything, his eyes catch the time on the clock hanging on the wall. With widened eyes, he stands up from his seat, almost topping the glasses on the table.
“I–Oh gosh, I’m sorry, Vodyanitysa, I need to go!” He hurriedly grabs his things, Vodyanitsa looking at him, completely startled. “Hey, are you that embarrassed that’s why you’re leaving?”
“I’ll tell you another time!” He waves at her along with his scarf before he bolts out of the restaurant door.
Moments later, Vodyanitsa gets her answer by the tall figure who enters the restaurant doors. It’s as if Mitya had completely calculated the exact time the major would arrive. She continues sipping her tea, acting like she doesn’t notice Valeriy’s figure approaching her.
“Hello, Miss Vodyanitsa.” She looks up from her tea and flashes the guard with her award-winning smile. “Why hello there, Major Valeriy. Is there anything I can help you with?”
His deep purple eyes scan the vicinity for a second before he looks back at Vodyanitsa. “Was Mr. Dmitry with you?”
She shakes her head, still smiling. “Nope.”
Valeriy doesn’t even look half convinced, eyeing the empty glass in front of the singer. Even so, he replies politely, “...I see.”
“If you’re wondering about the other glass, it wasn’t Mitya’s. I was with Alyosha earlier.” Vodyanitsa almost bites her tongue. Was she being too defensive?
Valeriy only nods at her reply, deciding not to probe her further, unless he wants to be under the water imp’s wrath. “Alright. But please tell me if you know about Mr. Dmitry’s whereabouts. I'll be taking my leave now.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Mitya hides behind a pillar just outside the bookstore he frequently visits, catching his breath.
“Oh goodness,” he sighs in relief. “I thought I was gonna die of embarrassment.” His scarf pats his head the way an older sibling would do to their younger siblings, before proceeding to give him a thumbs up.
If Mitya’s scarf has a physical body, it’s probably laughing at him right now.
The scientist eyes the object a little bit disapprovingly. Mitya sometimes wonders if this scarf is really on his side or not. Despite his scarf’s own antics, it’s the only thing he can share his deepest secrets to, not even to Vodyanitsa, Odette, or Alyosha.
He’d probably drop dead due to embarrassment if they ever find out how he thinks of a certain someone.
He leans his weight against the pillar, briefly closing his eyes and opening them again to look at his scarf. “Vodyanitsa might kill me the next time we meet,” he says to his scarf. “Why would she even remind me of what happened last week? I was trying to forget it already but then she reminded me again. Reminded me of how much I liked…it.”
His statement slowly comes to a stop when his scarf abruptly wraps itself around his mouth, almost making him choke. Only then he notices the tall figure now standing beside him, their shadow looming over his own.
Mitya slowly turns his head to the side, before coming face to face with Valeriy, who’s looking at him with a frown and arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Hey, Sarge, I didn’t know you like going to this store too!” He yanks his scarf away from his mouth and gives him a sheepish grin. His scarf drops down behind him once again.
Valeriy pointedly ignores his statement, disgruntled. “Mr. Dmitry, it’s been almost three hours since you left the Armory Palace. May I remind you that you have a project that you’re supposed to be working on.”
“Already?” Mitya asks, feigning his surprise. “I mean, not that I mind but I was kinda hoping to check out some new books that just arrived.”
Mitya makes a move to turn around and walk towards the entrance of the store, ultimately being stopped when Valeriy takes a hold of his collar. Or maybe his scarf.
“You’re pushing your luck this time, Mr. Dmitry,” Valeriy says with a sigh. “Even your scarf thinks so too.”
What? Mitya whips his head back only to see Valeriy pointing at his scarf, which is currently clutching at the taller male’s uniform tightly. What a traitor!
Valeriy takes the scientist’s stunned state as an opportunity to pull him closer, leading him back to the Armory Palace. “Let’s go now. We’ve been wasting so much of our work time here.”
“Alright, alright,” Mitya sighs, finally giving in. Guess he’s going back to work, then. His body, for some reason, quickly relaxes under Valeriy’s touch.
As they both walk in the middle of the plaza, Mitya notices that Valeriy still hasn’t let go of him. His large hand wraps around his wrists securely, not tight, but ensures that Mitya won’t suddenly run off. Usually, Mitya wouldn’t mind but the stares of the people and faes around the plaza makes his cheeks flush in slight embarrassment.
Mitya stops in his tracks causing the guard to look behind him. “What’s the matter this time?”
He points at the hand holding his wrist. “Um, how long are you going to keep on holding me?”
The black haired male blinks, glancing to where Mitya is pointing before he finally lets go. “Oh. My apologies, I did not notice.”
Mitya only laughs, patting the taller male on the back. The action seems to have caught the commander off guard which goes unnoticed by Mitya. Valeriy keeps his face blank. “It’s fine. It’s just that people are starting to stare at us, which is kind of embarrassing.”
Valeriy only stares at him. An awkward silence falls between them for a brief moment before the taller male turns back his attention to what they were supposed to do.
“We should hurry up,” he says coldly. Mitya wonders if he said anything wrong.
His pace is faster than before and Mitya almost has to jog just to catch up with him. Damn him and his long legs.
“Sarge, you don’t have to walk so fast you know.” Mitya says, small puffs of air coming out of his mouth. “If you wanted to go back to the Armory Palace so quickly, you should’ve just carried me over.”
He instantly regrets making that statement with the way Valeriy looks at him, all seriousness written on his face.
“I’m joking!”
Valeriy lets out a hum and continues walking. “Hmm. For one moment, I thought you were being serious,” Valeriy pauses briefly before continuing. “I was about to do what I did last week.”
“Last week—Sarge!” Mitya exclaims, the heat coming back to his face. Must everyone remind him of what happened last week? First it was Vodyanitsa, and now, Valeriy himself?
For a brief moment, he hears Valeriy chuckle. But before Mitya can even point it out, his face returns back to its serious expression. “Come on, let’s stop wasting time.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
“Good morning, Sarge!”
Valeriy’s gloved hand hangs in the air awkwardly, mid-knock, when Mitya abruptly opens the door. There’s a buzz of excitement around the scientist, his lilac eyes sparkling a bit more than usual as he greets the soldier in his cheerful voice.
“You’re early today,” Valeriy says in lieu of greeting, eyebrows raising for a brief moment as he looks at Mitya in astonishment. It usually takes Mitya a couple of minutes before he opens the door. He supposes today’s different from the usual–it’s the day of their expedition.
The taller male steps aside as Mitya locks the door of his house. Mitya gives him a nod, humming. “Of course! I wouldn’t want us to be late for our expedition.”
“You’re awfully excited about this, huh,” Valeriy mutters as he hands Mitya a paper cup of his favorite coffee. The aroma immediately fills Mitya’s nose, giving it an appreciative hum as he inhales the scent. The gesture is gladly received, his voice still laced with excitement. He happily sips on his coffee as they make their way to the train station.
Mitya gives him an enthusiastic nod. “It’s my first time going to a dungeon personally,” he says after taking a sip. “I’ve been thinking about it non-stop since last night. I’m just excited to see what kind of specimen we’ll collect, especially the energy cores.”
Valeriy knows not to reply. He only hums as he waits for Mitya to continue.
He goes on a tangent on something about extracting the energy cores from the dungeon and turning it to a liquid substance that can power the prototype he’s currently working on. Valeriy almost asks him what would be the purpose of the specimen collection if he’s so focused on working with the energy cores, but Mitya beats him to it, as if he’s reading his mind.
“Since it’s a device to, um… you know,” Mitya pauses, eyes scanning his surroundings. Once he confirms that no one’s listening to them, he continues, “Collecting specimens in various dungeons would be a great addition for our data bank. It’d probably even make the device’s predictions very accurate.”
There’s something so different with Mitya whenever he talks about his science stuff. Valeriy notes that his eyes tend to sparkle, especially when talking about engineering since it’s his specialty. He can only nod along to whatever Mitya’s saying.
By the time Mitya finishes talking, they finally arrive in front of the train station.
As they walk closer, the present troop members from Valeriy’s team immediately greet him with a salute. He only gives them a nod. Mitya greets the soldiers a cheerful good morning, his scarf waving along with him.
“Someone’s excited.” An amused voice speaks from behind. Mitya peeks over Valeriy’s shoulder and sees Tartaglia walking towards their direction clad in his large, white Fatui coat and a red scarf around his neck.
Both Mitya and Valeriy give him courteous greetings. “Come on, no need to be so formal.” Tartaglia laughs. He then turns to Mitya. “I look forward to working with you on the battlefield, Mitya.”
The white haired male gives him a nod. While he looks relaxed and excited at the same time, he can’t help but feel nervous as well. Not only is this going to be his first dungeon expedition, he’s also going to be the troop’s Guide. As if sensing his nervousness, Tartaglia is quick to reassure Mitya that the dungeon would be quite easy since he’s with two S-class Sentinels.
“Well, that is, unless something goes wrong.” Tartaglia laughs when he sees Mitya’s disgruntled expression.
Soon after, they board the train and head to Morepesok where they have to travel by land to the area where the dungeon appeared. The whole ride is fairly quiet, save for the song playing from the radio and the occasional rattling of the train.
Mitya’s seated on one of the two-seater booths while Valeriy seats in front of him. The latter’s currently looking outside of the window, watching as the trees slowly vanish from their sight, replaced by the view of frozen lake as they grow closer and closer to Morepesok.
His side profile looks insanely good, his brain supplies helplessly. Mitya tries to be subtle with the way he looks at his guard’s face. He thinks that despite the serious and usually cold expression the taller male wears on his face, he looks extremely handsome. He’d probably look even more handsome if he’d just soften up and smile more often.
Mitya, in realization, has never seen Valeriy smile.
He always has that serious look on his face, almost always frowning that he’s even surprised there’s still no creases between his eyebrows. It makes him wonder if Valeriy even likes having him around as his Guide, despite him not even giving him any guiding yet.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Valeriy’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts, his face slipping from how it’s resting from his palm. Mitya blinks, “What?”
The black haired male shifts on his seat, fully facing the scientist now. “You’ve been staring at me, Mr. Dmitry.”
“Oh, was I?” He rubs his head, a little sheepish. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”
“Is there something wrong?”
Mitya immediately shakes his head. “Nothing’s wrong, Sarge.” He then rests his hands on the table, giving him a small smile. “Anyway, would you like to receive…uh, some guiding? You know, just to be prepared for the dungeon.”
He immediately averts his gaze from the guard as soon as he finishes asking. He knows exactly what Valeriy’s going to say, just like the times he asked before.
When Mitya glances at the guard’s face, it’s as if he hesitates for a second before he gives the scientist the same reply. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m quite alright, Mr. Dmitry.”
Despite the sting he feels in his chest, Mitya just smiles at him. “Alright. Well, I’ll be here if you need it.”
He slumps back on his seat, ignoring the way Valeriy keeps on looking at him and he turns his head to the side, watching the cold air frost the window instead.
Silence passes by them.
They arrived in Morepesok two hours later.
The harsh cold air immediately hits Mitya’s face as soon as he steps out of the train carriage, eyes closing for a moment. He almost wants to go back inside and just soak up the warmth coming from the Kresnik Torch.
Morepesok is a lovely village that’s known for its excellent fishing spots and lively atmosphere. However, with the dungeon opening around its area, the waters have been affected by the dungeon’s abyssal miasma, making it difficult to make a living. Tartaglia immediately sent out his own soldiers to evacuate the people to a more secure place, especially since his family also resides there.
Now, the place is guarded with Tartaglia’s soldiers, keeping an eye out for any monsters that have drawn closer to the village.
The Harbinger briefly assesses the situation along with Valeriy while Mitya makes himself busy by taking note of his surroundings. The place has thankfully not been affected much, houses and boats still intact, except for the currently contaminated waters.
The energy around seems to be a bit unstable too, Mitya notes, writing down in his notebook how the air feels unusually cold and harsh. He hums thoughtfully, muttering to himself, “It’s probably due to the dungeon nearby.”
Mitya continues to observe his surroundings, his eyes taking in the view and looking for anything unusual. Valeriy and Tartaglia are still busy briefing the troops of their tasks during the expedition. As Mitya draws closer to the edge of the wooden port, his eyes squint, noticing some odd blue algae floating on the water.
Curious, he crouches down, the tips of his fingers almost touching the water and algae before he feels someone grips his scarf and pulls him up away from the edge.
“Don’t touch that.”
Mitya looks up and meets with Valeriy’s worried face. Startled, Mitya can only follow as the taller man helps him to stand up.
His large hand grips Mitya’s own before looking at it closely. There’s a deep frown on his face as he examines Mitya’s fingers, even flipping his hand around just to make sure it hasn’t been contaminated. A sigh of relief escapes from Valeriy’s lips once he confirms there’s nothing wrong.
“What are you doing?” The taller male asks.
“You scared me, Sarge!” He exclaims, his other hand clutching his shirt, eyes wide. “I was just looking at the water since there’s some weird algae floating on it. I’m sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to touch that.”
There’s a conflicted look on Valeriy’s face. He sighs once again. “Don’t apologize. It’s my fault for not looking after you but please…” Valeriy pauses, voice almost sounding like he’s frustrated. “Don’t touch anything. Not without protection, at least. I know you’re curious about a lot of things right now, but it’s also my duty to keep you safe, Mr. Dmitry.”
“I understand, Sarge.” Mitya gives him a nod, his tensed shoulders finally relaxing. He didn’t even notice that he got tense for a while. “Do you have any gloves?”
Valeriy didn’t say anything as he digs into his coat pockets and retrieves a pair of white gloves. Mitya watches with a slightly shocked face and flushed cheeks as Valeriy carefully places his hands inside the gloves.
His hands feel a lot warmer. If it’s because of the gloves or because of Valeriy’s touch, he isn’t quite sure.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
The travel towards the dungeon is a pretty long one. Mitya isn’t sure how many minutes, or hours, have passed since they left Morepesok. He already lost track of time after passing through multiple trees as they descended down the snowy mountain.
He’s in the frontline along with Valeriy, walking just a few steps behind Tartaglia, who’s leading them to the dungeon’s direction.
The cold air is getting harsher and heavier the closer they get to the dungeon. He recalls reading from one of his academic journals that some dungeons can affect the surrounding area of where it spawned, something similar to an environmental disorder.
Despite being covered from head to toe with thick layers, Mitya still feels so cold it almost feels like he’s already freezing. His movement already feels so slow due to the cold air.
He remembers Valeriy telling him last night that the area might be classified as a sub-zero level due to the effects of the dungeon.
Mitya shivers, still unused to the harsh cold, his hands pulling his coat impossibly closer to his body. He feels his scarf wrap itself around his neck to protect him from the air but it’s still not enough.
They continue to trek downwards the mountain, the snow crunching under their boots. No one has been speaking as they make their way down, the harsh cold wind making it impossible to even breathe properly, let alone speak.
Mitya wishes they’d arrive sooner so he could at least provide the troop members some quick guiding.
As they continue walking, he suddenly feels a warm and heavy coat being draped around his shoulders. When he looks up, he sees Valeriy without the coat he’s wearing earlier. He opens his mouth to protest, only to be stopped when the taller male just pulls him a little closer to his side.
“Eyes forward, Mr. Dmitry.” His voice sounds rough in the harsh wind. Somehow, it eases Mitya’s mind. “Don’t worry, I’m used to this kind of climate.”
He instantly feels just a bit warmer.
Mitya buries his nose under the oversized coat. He doesn’t know if it’s from the cologne he wears or Valeriy’s own scent, but Mitya notes the mild citrus scent that clings onto the fabric. It takes over Mitya’s senses, his body feeling a bit warmer now and he wonders if the same warmth is present if he’s being hugged by Valeriy.
Mitya keeps half of his face buried under Valeriy’s coat even after they finally arrive in front of the dungeon.
Harsh cold wind immediately hits Mitya in the face as soon as they approach the vicinity of where the dungeon spawned. The once luscious environment is now covered in snow from top to bottom, trees and faunas around the area completely frozen.
Rifthounds litter around the area, as if they are securing the entrance of the dungeon. Tartaglia’s soldiers, combined with Valeriy’s, clear the monsters that surround the place with ease. Mitya hears explosions booming around the place as the soldiers throw grenades infused with elemental crystals towards the monsters with the help of the robots that Sandrone also sent with them.
Valeriy steps in front of Mitya, acting as a shield, blocking his view of what’s in front of him. He hears a loud roar and Mitya sees the taller male pull his weapon out and infuse it with electro, slashing the creature in front of him. A huge body of a rifthound drops dead on their feet, its purple colored blood seeping out of the carcass.
“Are you okay, Mr. Dmitry?” Valeriy asks without turning around.
Mitya gives him a nod despite the guard not looking at him. “Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?”
Valeriy looks at him this time. “I’m alright.” He then glances down at the dead creature below them before he crouches down and pulls out its claw from its body with a quick slash of electro.
“Would this be alright as a specimen sample?”
Mitya leans his face towards the claw, examining it. There’s still traces of electro coming out of the claw, which is a good sign for Mitya. He gives Valeriy a nod as confirmation and the latter keeps the specimen in a space dimension inventory.
The soldiers make quick work of clearing out the monsters that spewed out of the dungeon while the three top ranking awakeners are on the sidelines as Childe advises, reserving their energy for the dungeon master.
The ginger approaches Mitya with a small smile. “Hey, Mitya.”
“Sir Tartaglia,” the scientist greets, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Mitya sees Tartaglia glance at the side, to where Valeriy is standing, before looking back at him with the same smile he had on earlier. “Do you mind if you give me some guiding? You know, for preparation inside the dungeon.”
As if on instinct, Mitya also glances to where Valeriy is standing and sees him turn his head away as soon as they make eye contact.
There’s a sting on his chest from Valeriy’s actions, his pride as a Guide quite hurt. Stil,l he ignores it and turns back to Tartaglia who’s still waiting for Mitya’s confirmation.
“Of course not, Sir Tartaglia.”
The Harbinger gives him a surprised look, as if Mitya’s answer was unexpected. Did Tartaglia think Mitya would refuse to guide him?
“Oh really?” Tartaglia then holds out his hand towards Mitya, who places his own on top of the Harbinger’s. The ginger grabs a hold of Mitya’s hand and pulls him closer towards him, leaning on the scientist’s ear to whisper. “Then, how far do you want to proceed? Or do you just do basic guiding?”
In the corner of his eye, Mitya sees Valeriy looking at them stiffly. He hears Tartaglia let out a laugh before standing back straight. “I’m just messing with you. I’m fine with basic guiding.”
Mitya gives him a laugh as a response. “You quite gave me a scare, sir. I thought you wanted more intimate guiding.”
“No, no. I wouldn’t want to do that,” Tartaglia replies, shaking his head. “Besides, we aren’t really highly compatible to be doing intimate guiding.”
He hears him mumble something, but isn’t able to fully understand due to the strong wind that blows in their direction. Talk about good timing.
Mitya recalls seeing the results between him and Tartaglia’s compatibility rate during the time when Pierro summoned him in his office. It was around 90% compatibility rate.
“Well then, I’ll start now.” Tartaglia only gives him a nod, still holding his hand.
Mitya inhales and briefly closes his eyes, gathering his energy in his body and channeling it in his hands for Tartaglia to absorb his powers. When Mitya opens his eyes, there’s a soft purple glow surrounding their bodies accompanied by small bolts of lightning.
The cold air seems to be blocked out by Mitya’s energy barrier, the air between him and Tartaglia completely warm. He can feel his hair tickling his cheek as it’s swept by the warm wind. His scarf, which is usually out and about, stays unusually still.
Mitya hears Tartaglia let out a soft sigh of relief, his body getting rid of the toxins that have built up inside his body. He feels the other slowly let go of his hand and Mitya immediately withdraws back his energy.
Tartaglia’s blue eyes momentarily glow when he opens them before it goes back to its usual color. He flashes the scientist an impressed smile. “You’re quite a great Guide, Mitya.”
“Thank you, sir,” Mitya replies, blushing. “I still have a lot to learn.”
The Harbinger only laughs before calling the soldiers to gather around as they prepare to enter the dungeon. Mitya feels his body buzz once again with excitement, eyeing the enormous gate in front of them
The circular gate casts an ominous energy around the area, a cold and harsh wind emitting from it. It almost looks cosmic, from the starry elements that swirl with the purple and blue hues. It almost looks beautiful, in Mitya’s opinion, but he knows that what’s inside is deadly.
Another harsh cold wind comes from the dungeon before a loud roar echoes from the inside.
He feels a presence shift beside him and sees Valeriy looking at him. The soft glow that hits the guard’s face makes him look softer despite the serious expression he has on.
“What is it, Sarge?” Mitya whispers, leaning a bit closer to his guard.
Valeriy stays silent for a moment before he leans down a bit to Mitya’s face. “Stay close to us inside the dungeon. We still have no idea what the dungeon master would be like.” The scientist ignores the way his heart skips a beat due to their close proximity, his hands clutching the hem of his coat.
“You’ve been reminding me of that since last night, Sarge.” Mitya teases, his elbow nudging the guard’s side. He doesn’t look a bit bothered by the action.
Valeriy tuts. “It doesn’t hurt to remind you again, Mr. Dmitry. It’s my duty to keep you safe during this expedition.” He then finally turns to Mitya fully, arms crossing in front of his chest. “That said, you can collect specimen samples and the energy core once we confirm that the dungeon master is slain.”
Mitya agrees easily. “Don’t worry! I won’t hold anyone back, especially you and sir Tartaglia.” He grins, giving him a thumbs up.
Tartaglia, as soon as he finishes giving their last briefing, signals the assigned members to finally enter the dungeon. It includes both him and Valeriy.
As soon as they enter, a semi-opaque blue box appears in front of Mitya’s eyes. It’s the same one during his awakening.
Dungeon Unlocked: The Immortal Construct
A+ Classified Dungeon
Mitya hears Tartaglia curse, eyeing the frozen trees and flora around. “Shit, maybe it’s a wrong decision for me to raid this dungeon.” He chuckles, “I should’ve suggested Arlecchino to come, instead of me.”
The structure inside the dungeon is almost similar to the ones outside–the ground is covered in huge piles of snow, trees almost looking frozen. Mitya recognizes the flora inside being similar to the ones he presented three days ago. Flowers with upturned blue petals surround the sides of the path they’re walking on, luminescent and covered in a thin layer of snow.
“Be careful, everyone,” Tartaglia warns, a huge electro spear manifesting in his hand and a hydro one on the other. “Monsters ahead.”
He leaps high into the air, piercing the flying beasts straight into their weak points just right above them with his electro spear. Swiftly, he slashes the other two with his hydro spear before he drops down on the ground with a loud thud.
“Ahh, Mitya, it seems like your guiding is doing wonders in my body.” Tartaglia laughs almost manically. “I feel great!”
Then, there’s a loud rumble that disrupts the momentarily silence that surrounds them.
Armored beasts appear in front of them, blocking their direction to go deeper inside the dungeon. While there are only three of them, they are larger in comparison to the flying monsters that Tartaglia has slain just a few moments ago.
Mitya is quick to cast an electro circle beneath their feet, amplifying the damage for the Sentinels around him. The soldiers immediately draw out their weapons, attacking the beasts that started to run in their direction.
They have only just entered the dungeon but monsters are already surrounding them. But the two S-class Sentinels are making quick work of them, along with the other A-class Sentinels coming from Valeriy’s troops, especially since Mitya has given them a boost from his powers.
Mitya summons three electro orbs before firing a powerful beam coming from each orb with a quick gesture from his hand. It pierces straight to the heavy armor of the beasts, weakening them. It’s soon followed by Valeriy and Tartaglia’s coordinated attacks, slashing the beasts with their electro-infused weapons.
The armored beasts drop down in front of them, its blood slowly seeping out of their bodies. The ground soon rumbles, making Mitya stumble a bit forward.
He feels an arm wrap around his waist. Looking down, he sees the familiar armor that Valeriy always wears and lets his body get assisted to regain his balance. He sees his guard holding both of his weapon and huge shield in one hand. Valeriy’s dark eyes slightly glow as he looks at Mitya. “Are you okay?”
Mitya could only give him a nod.
He hears groans coming out from the other soldiers and immediately removes Valeriy’s arm around him, ignoring the surprised look on the black haired male’s face.
Mitya quickly examines one of the wounded soldiers in front of him. Thankfully, the wound isn’t so deep but it would still hurt, especially since it came from one of the attacks of an abyssal monster. He slowly closes his hand around the Sentinel’s free hand, channeling his guiding energy onto it.
“This will be over soon,” Mitya gently says, letting his energy engulf the woman who’s clutching her wound with her other hand. The purple barrier once again surrounds them, watching as the abyssal residue starts to fade and the wound slightly closes.
He assists the Sentinel in standing up, giving the other soldier an instruction to go back outside and let her rest. The two of them hesitate, eyes darting behind Mitya for a second before looking back at him. He gives them a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Sarge about it, okay?”
He gives them a wave, watching as the two retreat back in safety.
Mitya turns back to Valeriy. “I hope you don’t mind that I made them retreat,” he says, a little bit nervous as he looks for any sign of disapproval from the guard.
Mitya thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him when he sees the corners of Valeriy’s mouth twitch slightly upward, resembling a smile. He squints against the dark, leaning his face a bit closer and sees the familiar serious look on the guard’s face.
“Not at all. In fact, it was a wise decision, Mr. Dmitry.”
He raises his hand, and Mitya thinks he’s about to receive a pat from his guard, only to be interrupted with a loud screech deep within the dungeon.
It makes his ears ring, hands clutching his ears to block the sound but to no avail. Everyone around him winces, clearly affected by the loud sound coming from the monster in the depths of the dungeon.
Groaning, Valeriy musters up his energy and summons a thick barrier made of electro, absorbing the loud noise and making it dissipate. Mitya, and everyone else around him, immediately sighs in relief.
“Well, at least we now know which direction is its domain.”
They continue to delve deeper into the dungeon. The closer they get to the domain, the more Mitya starts to notice the environment changes. The once snow-covered path slowly transitions back into its luscious green state, displaying the healthier grass underneath their feet.
There’s still the same harsh wind around, except this time, it feels warmer unlike the cold and heavy one from the surface.
Orange colored trees and grass surround the area, devoid of any snow. Thick, sharp branches protrude from the ground, while the same blue luminescent flower grows around them. It’s eerily silent around the area, Mitya notes, and not a single monster can be seen.
They walk along the path that leads into a cave before a large barrier of a tree trunk greets them. A soft sound echoes around them before the box appears once again. Mitya’s eyes widen upon reading the text displayed inside.
Unlocked Dungeon: The Immortal Construct is rearranging.
Classification: S-Class
When the box disappears, Mitya immediately looks towards the two Sentinels, who are just as astonished as him. “That’s a first,” Valeriy comments, eyebrows frowning.
Tartaglia nods in agreement. “Indeed,” he replies, “The dungeon master has probably mutated into an S-class state, probably absorbing large amounts of elemental energy.”
“And based on the element present right now, it’s probably pyro.” Mitya concludes, which Tartaglia agrees once again.
“I take back what I said earlier. Guess it’s a good thing I was the one who joined this expedition,” He laughs, summoning his large electro and hydro spears once again. He knocks on the tree trunk, tilting his head in its direction. “The dungeon master is probably behind this barrier. Using pyro would be an easier way to break this but since everyone around here is electro, hydro, and cryo, the next best suitable action is brute force.”
He turns to Valeriy, who immediately understands what Tartaglia means.
The taller male approaches the barrier. “I suggest everyone to take a few steps back.”
Mitya and the others immediately step away from their direction. They wait for a moment, until Valeriy gathers a large amount of electro and infuses his armored covered hand with it, raising his arms and whamming the barrier with a strong force.
His punch successfully creates a huge hole on the barrier, sending stray pieces of wood flying in various directions.
Taken over by his quick reflexes, Mitya immediately summons a large electro barrier, protecting them from the debris. Once he deems it safe enough, he lets his shield dissipate.
Before he can even nag at his bodyguard, whose face got slightly wounded from the pieces of wood, his eyes catch the figure in the middle of the area.
The box pops up again.
Monster Unlocked: The Eternal Flamefeather
S-Class (Previously A+)
Status: Mutated
Type: Aberrant Chimeric Monster
The beast is something that the scientist hasn’t seen before. It’s not recorded into any of his academic journals or books.
Its lower body is made up of wood, its figure similar to the armored beasts they fought earlier. Small branches protrude out with orange colored leaves growing out of it. The tail is shaped like a scorched feather, burned red and brown. Mitya draws his eyes upward to the flower-shaped upper body, a white figure with petal-shaped head, similar to a human, rests in the middle.
It looks otherworldly. And quite terrifying.
The four people enter the domain of the dungeon master, and as soon as they make their first steps, the creature perks up and awakens.
It releases the deafening screech once again, its flame-feathered wings opening and makes a slashing attack in their direction.
Valeriy immediately puts up a barrier in each of the awakeners, blocking out the sound coming from the monster. Mitya casts once again his electro circle, boosting the damage that the Sentinels deal towards the monster.
Valeriy lures the enemy in, absorbing its attacks with his shield. Tartaglia and the others take the opportunity to attack the creature behind and its weak spot.
The creature slashes its wings in their direction, making them jump and scatter away from each other.
Mitya leaps into the air, summoning his orbs and fires electro beams at the monster, staggering it from its attacks to which Valeriy takes it as an opportunity to slash his greatsword on the lower body. His eyes follow Tartaglia and the two other Sentinels, sending out his energy to give them more damage boost.
“Mitya, look out!”
It’s probably due to how he’s floating in the air, but his reaction comes a bit slower. He didn’t notice the creature flying into the air, now infused with pyro, and firing a beam in his direction.
Apparently, his scarf’s reflexes are faster than his.
It flies in front of Mitya, blocking the enemy’s attack and soon, Mitya summons his electro barrier to block the fire beam coming in his direction. The force sends him flying backwards, his head and back hitting the trunk and he feels himself dropping.
Before he can even hit the ground, he feels a pair of strong arms wrap around him and the mild citrus scent invading his senses.
“Sarge…” Mitya weakly calls, hands clutching at Valeriy’s collar. The taller male hugs him closer, placing a hand behind Mitya’s head securely. They both make it down safely, Mitya still holding onto his guard’s clothes tightly.
While Mitya’s still distracted, Valeriy conjures up his powerful electro barrier that absorbs any enemy attacks and reflects it back at them. He can feel how painful his back is, but his duty to protect Mitya somehow lessens the pain.
“Are you in pain, Mr. Dmitry?” He asks, his eyes scanning from any serious injuries. Mitya’s face is covered in dust and he feels a bump behind his head.
“Peachy,” Mitya groans, gaze a bit unfocused from the impact, “I think there’s a bump on my head.”
Valeriy sighs deeply. “I’ll ask one of the healers to apply cryo on it later.” He helps Mitya to stand up properly, regaining his balance in the process. “Are you still okay with fighting? Or do you want to retreat?”
“Let’s just wait,” Mitya says decidedly. “Besides, I think the creature is almost dead.”
Valeriy raises an eyebrow at the statement. “How can you tell?”
Mitya’s eyes are trained on the creature that is still attacking Tartaglia and the other two Sentinels. He thinks it releases another one of its screeches, its wings opening once again and with powerful slashes coming from the Sentinels, its wings drop on the ground.
Soon after, the creature falls down.
Smoke erupts from the ground upon the impact, making the ground shake for a bit. Mitya holds on to Valeriy, who immediately steadies him.
“Its movement turned sluggish after that pyro beam,” The scientist replies after a while, watching as Valeriy’s electro barrier dissolves into small electro particles. “They also keep on hitting it on its weak spot, and of course with your barrier making counter attacks, it’s bound to die sooner.”
Valeriy almost looks impressed from his answer. “I see.”
The energy core soon appears from the creature’s body being held by some tree branches.
He sees Tartaglia approach them, his electro spear resting on his shoulder as he gives them a wave with his free hand. “Hey, you two.” He stops in front of them, before he drops a specimen sample on their feet. “How’s this for a specimen sample?”
It’s the feathers that came from the creature’s wings.
Mitya gives it an appreciative hum. “It’s more than enough, Sir Tartaglia. Thank you.”
A small, blue portal slowly forms in the middle of the domain. Quick exits usually form when the master is slain but the dungeon remains unclaimed. Its sole purpose is to make the entry and exit faster, especially when the dungeon is filled with loot.
In this case, the dungeon has no significant loot for it to remain active, much to Mitya’s dismay. Tartaglia would probably finish collecting the specimen samples and core energy before the dungeon collapses.
“Valeriy, instruct my members to enter the dungeon to collect other specimen samples. You two wait for the rest of us and rest in the meantime.” Valeriy gives the Harbinger a salute and soon, they step back to the surface where the rest awaits them.
They are greeted with cold air. However, with the dungeon master gone, its effects have already lessen, the earlier harsh bite of the air finally gone.
Valeriy immediately requests for one of the healers present to check on Mitya’s injuries. One of the healers immediately tends to his bruises, applying a packet infused with cryo on his bump.
The guard leaves Mitya with the healer, despite feeling a bit hesitant, but he needs to immediately send out Tartaglia’s soldiers back inside the dungeon and also treat his injuries.
Apparently, during the time they were inside the dungeon, the rest of the soldiers had set up a small camp just a few distance away from the gate. The effects of the dungeon are lessened due to the barrier set up by one of the Sentinels, who’s an expert in creating various shields and barriers.
He later finds out that he’s also a tank and Valeriy’s mentee.
Mitya scans the area looking for Valeriy. He slowly walks around the camp, holding two cups of warm tea in his hands given by one of the soldiers, and finds Valeriy inside one of the tents, shirtless.
“Sarge! Are you okay? Does your wound still hurt?”
Valeriy’s head whips towards his direction. The scientist abruptly stops, realizing he hasn’t asked for permission to enter the tent. He awkwardly takes a step back. “Oops. Uhm, may I come in?”
“You’re already inside, Mr. Dmitry.”
Mitya, now granted with permission, walks closer to where Valeriy is currently sitting. He tries his hardest not to let his eyes dart lower, to not stare at Valeriy’s well sculpted pecs and hard abs. Goodness, Mitya, get a grip!
Instead, he hands one of the cups towards Valeriy. He takes a quick sip of the tea. “I’m fine, Mr. Dmitry. What about you? My apologies, I was late to take action—“
“Don’t apologize.” Mitya huffs, interrupting him and sits down beside the taller male. He feels warmer. “I—Thank you for catching me earlier.”
“It’s my duty to protect you.”
Mitya frowns. “Even so, your wounds look bad. Put the cup down for a bit and let me give you some guiding—“
“There’s no need.”
Another instant rejection. There’s a mysterious glint in Valeriy’s eyes, something that Mitya can’t quite understand.
He bites his lips. Mitya grips the cup that he’s holding a little bit tighter than usual.
“…Why?” He softly asks. “Why won’t you receive any guiding from me even though we’re compatible? Are you unhappy with me as your Guide?”
Hearing himself ask that makes him feel a bit pathetic. Sure, Mitya’s still relatively new to the whole guiding thing, but it’s already been three months since his awakening. How would he even learn if Valeriy keeps on rejecting him?
“I could never be unhappy with you as my Guide.”
Mitya’s frown deepens from Valeriy’s answer. “Then why won’t you let me? I just don’t understand.”
He feels Valeriy rest one of his hands on his knee and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Mitya’s heart rate picks up. He looks at Valeriy with slightly widened eyes.
“As I’ve told you before, I have a duty to fulfill. I have my duty to protect you and always ensure your safety. You don’t have to bother yourself with guiding someone like me, Mr. Dmitry.”
Mitya isn’t fully convinced with his reasoning. Too tired to even argue, he just nods. He’ll drill his guard once they’re done with the expedition.
An idea suddenly pops into his genius mind. He turns to Valeriy, now smiling excitedly. His cheeks flush, getting reminded that Valeriy is still shirtless beside him. He clears his throat, he has a mission for Valeriy if he doesn’t want to receive guiding from him.
He has a brilliant proposition in mind.
“Fine. But you have to stop calling me Dmitry!” He grins, relishes in the way Valeriy’s face flushes slightly. Hah! “Everyone calls me Mitya, heck, even Director Pierro, but not you. Ridiculous, Sarge, ridiculous.”
He shakes his head for dramatic effect, even crossing his arms to feign disappointment.
Valeriy must be done with Mitya’s theatrics since he immediately gives in. Sort of. “Is that all you want me to do?” He asks, a tinge of amusement in his voice.
“Aside from receiving guiding? Well, yes.”
A brief silence passed by them.
“…Mitya.” His name rolls off smoothly on his tongue. Valeriy thinks he could get used to calling this name.
Mitya hums. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I’m just… testing it out.”
The scientist laughs. The earlier worriness completely disappears from Mitya’s demeanor. “If you say so, Sarge.”
He places the empty cup on the vacant seat near Valeriy’s foot. His eyes land on the open first-aid box. “Oh, actually, you know what? Since you don’t want to receive any guiding from me, how about I just patch up your wounds? I may not be an expert in the medical field but I can patch a wound or two.”
Valeriy lets him apply ointment on his bruised knuckles, the cuts on his face, and the wounds on his back. Gently, Mitya wraps Valeriy’s arm with bandages, tying the ends with a neat little ribbon.
“There, all done!” He looks at his work proudly.
“I appreciate your work, Mitya.”
Somehow, Mitya just feels a bit closer to Valeriy.
Just like his research, it’s a slow progress. But progress is still progress.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Their relationship has gotten a bit closer ever since their expedition.
Valeriy still treats him almost the same as before, still performing his duties as Mitya’s bodyguard. He still chases after Mitya every time the scientist runs off from work, his usual routes already memorized and calculated in the back of his mind. Still, Mitya finds a way to escape the guard. Most of the time.
On the surface, there probably hasn't been anything that changed. Valeriy still takes care of Mitya and his well-being, often bringing the scientist food during breakfast or lunch, sometimes even accompanying Mitya as they watch Vodyanitsa’s and Odette’s performance in the theater.
Mitya still encourages Valeriy to relax and let loose once in a while. Having been around with his guard for quite some time now, he notices the subtle details in Valeriy’s face, when he’s anxious, irritated, calm, or happy. He tries to take care of his Sentinel in his own little way, just like the way Valeriy also takes care of him.
Even during dungeon raids, after their first expedition, their attacks and defense are more coordinated than before, with Mitya providing him damage boost while Valeriy tanks and absorbs every energy attack thrown at them. They work so flawlessly in the battlefield that it leaves their soldiers in complete awe.
Since their closeness isn’t something that’s very obvious to other people, the way Valeriy calls the scientist as “Mitya” instead of “Mr. Dmitry” surprises the other three sitting with Mitya inside Podvorye Restaurant.
Vodyanitsa’s eyes widen, a hand covering her mouth as she faintly gasps. Even Odette, who’s usually blank-faced and composed, looks surprised. Alyosha raises an eyebrow upon hearing what the guard says.
Valeriy, if he even noticed their shock, only nods at them. “I leave Mitya in your care for now. I’ll be back after my training in two hours.” He then finally turns to Mitya. “Don’t even try to leave without me.”
Mitya only gives him a thumbs up along with his scarf.
“Sure,” says Vodyanitsa dazedly, slowly recovering from her shock.
The table stays silent, watching as Valeriy’s figure slowly disappears from their view. As soon as they see the guard gone, they all turn to Mitya as if waiting for some juicy gossip.
Mitya hears Alyosha chuckle. “He finally dropped the mister, huh?”
Before Mitya can even reply, Vodyanitsa faces him with an excited look on her face as she leans forward, resting her hands on the table. Mitya sees Odette sigh quietly beside the singer, her fingers pushing back Vodyanitsa’s hair behind her shoulders.
“Your hair’s going to be dripping with soup, Vodyanitsa.”
“Oh my gosh,” The singer giggles. “He called you Mitya! When? Where? How?”
He stops stirring his coffee and leans back in his chair with a grin. Somehow, the action makes the singer somewhat ticked, puffing her cheeks in mild annoyance. “Ugh, stop grinning. You’ve got some explaining to do, Mr. Energy Scientist.”
Mitya deflates like a balloon upon hearing the nickname. “Don’t call me that,” He says, a little bit embarrassed.
“Well? Start explaining then.” Mitya gives Alyosha an unimpressed look, arms crossing in front of his chest. Even the hunter has an eager look on his face as he waits for his explanation. It makes Vodyanitsa giggle, giving Alyosha a high-five.
“You know how we went on that expedition three weeks ago, right? It was supposed to be an A-class dungeon but suddenly it became an S-class, right before we faced the dungeon master.” The three are listening to him eagerly, although Odette looks like she already knows, since she works in Fatui as well. “Long story short, Valeriy got a bit injured but he still refuses to receive guiding from me, so I said he should start calling me Mitya like everyone else does. So, there’s that.”
He purposefully leaves out the part where he asks Valeriy if he’s unhappy with him as his Guide. It’s between him, his scarf, and Valeriy. He’d probably pass out if his friends found out about that short moment of vulnerability.
“And he didn’t refuse?” Odette asks.
“Nope,” Mitya replies proudly. “It’s either that or I’ll keep pestering him to receive guiding.”
Alyosha hums as he taps his index finger on his lips in thought. “I wonder why Valeriy doesn’t want to receive guiding from you specifically, though.”
Mitya wonders why, too. As far as he can recall, the only time he gave him guiding was during his awakening, which was four months ago. Was Valeriy too overwhelmed with his abilities that it rendered him not wanting to be guided?
As if sensing his inner turmoil, Vodyanitsa then shifts the conversation to a different topic. Since it’s almost been a month since their last gathering like this, the prima donna gives them some updates regarding the new performances they’re set to do in the coming weeks.
“You should come and watch our performance, Mitya,” says Vodyanitsa. “And invite Valeriy to come, too.” She gives him a teasing wink.
“If he agrees,” Mitya says faintly, because there’s no way of telling if the guard actually wants to come, given how he’s insistent on using his time for work. Mitya would argue that going to The Korolevskiy Theater to watch Odette and Vodyanitsa is part of his work, especially since their performances are sources of his inspiration, thank you very much.
They stayed at the restaurant for another hour, catching up with more things that had happened for the past few weeks. Mitya’s in the middle of his science tangents, fully concentrated in explaining to Odette something about elemental energies can power up several devices which reminds him of his own research, only for his scarf to quickly wrap itself around his mouth.
Odette watches with amusement as Mitya wrestles with his scarf, her bright purple eyes displaying her emotions. The scientist finally yanks the scarf away from his mouth and breathes. “Hey! I’m pretty sure that doesn’t even count. Odette’s even in the Fatui!”
The scarf thinks otherwise, giving Mitya a thumbs down.
While Mitya is busy bickering with his own sentient scarf, and losing somehow, the restaurant door opens and Valeriy enters. The taller male approaches their table.
“Valeriy,” Alyosha greets with a small nod, “You’re quite early.”
“Indeed. The training ended earlier than scheduled, which I suppose is a good thing,” Valeriy replies, his eyes darting towards the scientist who’s glaring at his own scarf.
He raises an eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”
“Mitya’s arguing with his scarf, something about it shouldn’t stop him from saying things since Odette’s part of the Fatui anyway,” Vodyanitsa answers, shaking her head. She looks at the guard with her big round eyes, “Haven you eaten yet? Would you like to join us?”
“I’m afraid not, Miss Vodyanitsa.” Valeriy then walks to where Mitya is sitting, before he places something on the table in front of the scientist, finally interrupting whatever argument he’s having with his scarf.
If anyone notices the way Mitya’s eyes light up upon seeing his guard, no one points it out.
“Oh, Sarge, you’re early.” The scarf gives Valeriy a small wave, to which he replies with a small nod. He knows it’s somewhat of an extension of Mitya’s consciousness, having been awakened the same time as the scientist. “Want some coffee?”
Valeriy shakes his head. “No, thank you. We have to go back to the Armory Palace soon.”
“Oh, has it been two hours already?” Then, Mitya’s eyes catch something–it’s the book that Valeriy placed down earlier on the table. It’s the second volume of the novel that Mitya’s reading from Yae Publishing House. It’s been one of his favorite series as of late, finding the whole plot and its characters very appealing.
Mitya looks up from the book then to Valeriy. “Did you bring this? How?” He asks in surprise, both from seeing the book and from knowing that the guard personally brought it to him. “Last time I visited the book store, the copies were already sold out.”
Mitya’s jaw almost drops when he hears Valeriy’s answer. “I got it for you. I noticed you’ve been rereading the first volume during your spare time and when I passed by earlier, it just so happens that there were new arrivals of books from Yae Publishing House, including that.” He points at the book that Mitya’s holding.
“Aww, that’s awfully sweet of you, Sir Valeriy.”
Mitya thinks his face can rival a tomato with how red it is. He completely forgot that his friends were listening to their conversation, only snapping back from whatever little bubble he had with Valeriy through Vodyanitsa’s teasing comment.
He hears both Alyosha and Odette trying to muffle their laughter.
He gives them an awkward laugh as he stands up and grabs Valeriy’s hand. “Yup, we are leaving, Sarge.” He says through gritted teeth and blushing cheeks. “Thanks for your time today, everyone. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for the food.” He drags Valeriy to the counter, ignoring the way Vodyanitsa outright cackles at his embarrassment.
Goodness, he’s been so focused with Valeriy’s actions he completely forgot that his friends are around. And Valeriy didn’t even say anything!
Mitya pays for their meal and heads out of the restaurant afterwards. Valeriy walks closely behind him like a shadow. He feels his scarf wrap around his neck when he shivers from the chilly air.
“Hey, Sarge,” Mitya calls.
“Yes, Mr. Dmitry?” The scientist whips his head towards his guard, raising an eyebrow. Mr. Dmitry????
The guard clears his throat. “Force of habit.” Valeriy averts his gaze. “Do you need anything, Mitya?”
A smile makes its way onto Mitya’s lips, delighted in the way Valeriy says his name. He nods at the taller male’s question. “Yes, actually. Do you mind if we drop by the book store?” He sees Valeriy raise an eyebrow at his question. Mitya huffs slightly. “Come on, we still have a few more minutes before I actually clock back in to work.”
When he doesn’t reply, Mitya resorts to one of the few things he learned from Vodyanitsa, something that she often does, especially towards Odette, when she wants something.
He holds his own hands together, hugging the book in his chest to prevent it from falling, and looks up at Valeriy with his puppy eyes, eyebrows furrowed slightly together, his bottom lip jutting out downward.
“Come on, Sarge, pleaaase?”
Mitya is convinced that he can’t pull it off like Vodyanitsa does–her natural big round eyes doing all the work for her. Since Mitya doesn’t have those, he’s sure that Valeriy will turn him down and just drag him back to work.
Much to his surprise, really, he sees the tips of Valeriy’s ears turn red. He glances to the side as he brings his hand to his face and coughs.
What the heck was that reaction?
“Let’s go, then. But make it quick; we still have to be on schedule.”
Mitya follows Valeriy to the direction of the book store. The taller male has his back on Mitya, but the scientist still looks at his reddened ears.
He hides his laugh on his scarf.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Rarely does Mitya get pissed.
It’s been a busy week full of testing prototypes, scrapping said prototypes, creating more formulas, and sleepless nights for Mitya.
The existing dark circles under his eyes seem to darken a bit more from the lack of sleep he’s been getting for the past days. Even his skin feels dry from dehydration, stress and lack of proper rest.
And it’s only Thursday.
It’s still Thursday but he already feels like he’s been stuck on the same day for a whole week now. Mitya doesn’t even know if he’s making any sense.
He’s been stuck in his laboratory for almost the whole day, testing and testing different formulas that he hoped could finally work. His laboratory is disorganized from the amount of papers thrown and opened books scattered on the floor.
He’s seated on the floor in front of his wooden desk, reading one of his academic journals that his scarf is currently holding. It seems like the tiredness is finally catching up to his brain, the words written in the journal are starting to not make sense as he continues reading it.
Mitya clenches his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can already feel the telltale signs of an incoming migraine.
He lets out a frustrated sigh, grabbing the book from his scarf and shutting it close. No use in reading when the words just look like some random squiggly mess.
Another sigh escapes his dry lips as he removes his glasses before ruffling his already messy white hair. Mitya ignores the way his stomach grumbles from hunger.
Nothing seems to be working the way he planned this week.
He was supposed to test the prototype of the device he’s been working on for the past couple months since their expedition, only for it to not work properly. Apparently, there were some things that were measured incorrectly, resulting in the prototype not working. What makes things worse is the fact that the energy cores aren’t compatible with the device. Mitya had even infused the device with his own electro, but the damn thing refuses to work.
It even went downhill when the prototype broke.
Mitya feels frustrated. Mostly at himself.
He feels drained, annoyingly so. There hasn’t been any significant progress with his research lately and he’s supposed to be the genius from the Energy Commission. How can he call himself the genius, expert scientist when he couldn’t even resolve this?
His scarf, which is usually messing with him, seems to feel his frustrations. It stays pliant the whole time Mitya was working, assisting the scientist without any form of protest.
Ruffling his hair once again, he places his glasses on his table before he walks out of his lab, doors left completely open.
He heads outside of Glupov, the cold evening air of Snezhnaya immediately hitting his exposed skin. A small puff of smoke escapes his lips when he sighs tiredly, walking away from his workplace.
He didn’t notice it’s gotten so late, almost all of the shops are already closed as he walks around Snezhnograd.
He walks around town aimlessly, letting his feet drag him away from the headquarters. Few people who see him greets him as he walks by, still giving them a small tired smile and wave. Although he couldn’t ignore the way people look confused as he walks around all alone.
He picks up his pace, walking away from the town and later finds himself in front of The Korolevskiy Theater. The lights are still on despite the theater being closed for the day, emitting a warm glow in the snowy evening. He sees one of the theater staff locking the door from a distance.
Mitya thinks it’s the umpteenth time he lets out a sigh. His body feels tired and heavy; he musters up his remaining strength to plop down on a nearby bench. He closes his eyes for a moment, letting the cold air hit his face and let his mind wander.
The evening feels a little bit colder, he thinks, without a certain bodyguard with him.
Valeriy, who’s usually following him around wherever he goes even while he’s just in his lab, is absent today. Not because he’s sick, not at all, but because he’s been assigned to supervise the new regiment from one of the teams without their current assigned captain.
Mitya had no problem with Valeriy’s absence. Except for the fact that he feels a bit lonely. He’s already used to the taller man’s presence following him around even though he continuously sneaks out from his work.
He opens his eyes. The full moon greets him with a warm light accompanied with the falling snow and cold air. He feels the earlier frustrations slowly dissipating now that he’s away from his work.
Silence accompanies him as he sits alone in front of the theater, save from the silent whooshing of the wind. He feels his scarf move. Glancing down, he sees it slowly wrap itself around his right arm and gives him a soothing rub, as if comforting him.
Mitya feels exhausted, eyes feeling a bit droopy and heavy from his scarf’s actions. The cold air seems to slowly lull him to sleep. But Mitya knows better; he knows not to fall asleep now and knows that he needs to lock himself back in his lab to continue his research and experiments.
He rubs his face with his cold hands, closes his eyes in exhaustion as another weary breath makes its way out of his parted lips. A shiver runs down his spine, and only then he realizes that he’s just wearing a thin white button up, his purple cloak and cravat completely forgotten back in his laboratory.
Before Mitya could even stand, he hears a familiar voice he’s been wanting to hear.
“I knew I’d find you here.”
His eyes snap open and immediately locks with Valeriy’s own. Great, now Mitya feels just a tad bit pathetic as Valeriy looks at his exhausted state.
Still, he couldn’t find himself driving his guard away. Instead, he scoots to the side and pats the empty space beside him, allowing for the other to sit which Valeriy obliged.
Mitya feels him drape something across his shoulder, realizing that it’s his purple cloak that he left inside his lab. He hears some rustling beside him before Valeriy hands him a wrapped sandwich. When Mitya didn’t take it from his hand, he slowly unwraps the food and places it on Mitya’s hand.
It’s still warm, he notes. The scent coming from the food makes his stomach grumble loudly. His cheeks flush, but Valeriy doesn’t seem to mind. “Eat up, Mitya. I bet you forgot to even have dinner.”
The scientist doesn’t reply but it’s all Valeriy needs to know.
Mitya hears his guard let out a sigh as he continues to eat. “The training went for the whole day. But the team’s captain is going back tomorrow so I won’t be back to supervise them.” Mitya only hums. Valeriy continues, “I apologize for not taking care of you today.”
The statement makes Mitya laugh, just enough of his remaining energy could muster. “You don’t have to apologize about that, Sarge. Come on, don’t be ridiculous.”
Valeriy huffs. Mitya smiles amusedly at the action. “It’s part of my duty to take care of you—to ensure that your wellbeing is taken care of.”
“Eh,” Mitya shrugs, “It’s mostly my fault, though. I was so focused on my research that I completely forgot to eat. So, don’t blame yourself.”
“How was it?” Valeriy asks, “your research?”
Valeriy listens to Mitya’s ramblings, frustrations, and thoughts about his research. He listens in complete silence as the scientist airs out his problems that he encountered today that Valeriy wasn’t able to witness. All of the failed prototypes, formulas that Mitya wasn’t able to work with, he let it all out to Valeriy, who listened without any judgment.
The scientist’s voice cracks, his half-eaten sandwich forgotten in his lap, as he tells Valeriy his frustrations.
“I’m just so—ugh, so frustrated, Sarge,” Mitya sighs, “Mostly at myself. And the Fatui… somehow.”
Valeriy raises an eyebrow. “The Fatui?”
Mitya nods, taking a bite of his sandwich once again. “Yeah. Another thing that frustrates me is that our budget was cut off, again. I’m not even sure why.” There’s a frown on his face as he says this. “Actually, I might know why, but I don’t have solid evidence for this.”
The guard only hums. He watches as Mitya finally finishes his food. He hands him a bottle of water to which the scientist accepts gratefully.
“You need to rest, Mitya.” Valeriy stands up, assisting Mitya as well. His hands fix the purple cloak draped on his shoulder, pulling it close to keep the scientist warm against the cold wind. “I’ll send a document for leave tomorrow at Lord Jester’s office.”
“But Sarge, I need to work on—“ Mitya’s protests fall on deaf ears. Valeriy gives him a stern look, folding his arms in the process.
“You’re not going to make any progress if you tire yourself out.” Which is true, Mitya thinks, unable to refute his statement. “You barely ate this week, I had to drag you out of your laboratory just so you could eat. You’re dehydrated and you need sleep. How else are you supposed to function properly like that?”
Mitya pouts, a hand ruffling his already messy hair. He’s not entirely wrong.
He hears the guard sigh. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to nag,” He says, “As your guard, it’s my duty to take care of you, too. And telling you to rest comes with it.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll take the day off tomorrow.”
After a while, Valeriy drops off the scientist back in his house. The latter’s hunger is fully satiated, muscles relaxed that he thinks the moment he lies down on his bed, he’ll be off to dreamland.
Mitya turns to Valeriy with a small smile. “Thanks, Sarge. Really, I appreciate it. And don’t say it’s just your duty. Just accept my thanks.” He points at him, effectively shutting the taller male.
He watches as the scientist unlocks his front door and steps inside. “Good night, Sarge. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Valeriy gives him a nod. “I’ll drop by tomorrow, just to make sure you eat and keep yourself hydrated.”
“Come on! It’s not that bad.” Mitya laughs. Valeriy only raises an eyebrow at him and the other gives in. “Alright, fineee.”
“Good night, Mitya. Have a good rest.”
The scientist waves at him. “You too, Sarge.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
It took one expedition and three more raids for Mitya to realize he loves going into dungeons.
He loves the idea of going into dungeons to get more specimen samples that he could use for the device he’s creating. Even collecting energy cores that he could use for his experiments, though it often fails as what every experiment does.
Not only that, but he likes having Sentinels around, he likes joining them in battles and using his abilities as their Guide. It brings Mitya immense joy every time they successfully raid a dungeon, either claiming them for future uses or closing the unnecessary ones.
He’s usually with Valeriy every time they raid a dungeon, despite the Sentinel not wanting to receive any guiding, much to Mitya’s dismay. Still, it doesn’t stop the duo from having great synergy during battles.
Mitya is in the central laboratory when he hears some of the scientists from the Energy Commission talking about a newly opened gate. He tries to be subtle while listening to them, busying himself in arranging the flasks and papers on his assigned desk.
“It’s more on the smaller size from what I’ve heard,” One of the scientists says, “Probably even a C-class dungeon. But I’ve heard it’s sort of odd since when some Sentinels investigated it earlier, the environment was similar to Liyue’s landscape.”
It piques Mitya’s curiosity.
A dungeon with a Liyuen landscape located in Snezhnaya. While it hasn’t been unheard of, since rifts and dungeons are space dimensions that its environments could overlap with the existing nations in Teyvat, it is Mitya’s first experience encountering one.
He’s going to make sure of it.
He immediately makes his way back to his laboratory, looking for a certain bodyguard along the way. The scientist ignores the way the others look at him. He’s practically skipping back towards his laboratory in excitement.
As soon as he arrives, he forgoes the white laboratory coat and wears his purple coat instead. He lets his scarf fix his hair that got messed up along the way, the fabric patting his messed up hair down..
The scarf gives him a thumbs up, to which Mitya also returns with a grin.
“Alright! Now, all we gotta do now is look for the Sentinels who are going to that dungeon without–”
“Without what?”
Startled out of his wits, Mitya turns around and comes face to face with a disgruntled looking Valeriy. He has his arms crossed as he stares at Mitya with questioning, raised eyebrows.
“Gah! Sarge, you scared me!” Mitya huffs, placing his hands on his hips. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to hear you say something about dungeons.” Mitya clicks his tongue, mildly annoyed. “You’re not planning to sneak off from your work to raid dungeons, are you?”
“It’s under my research, Sarge.” Mitya grins when Valeriy couldn’t refute his answer. The black haired male only sighs.
When Valeriy looks at the scientist again, there’s a glint in his eyes that he knows he cannot refuse whatever the Guide is going to ask of him.
“Why don’t you come with me to the dungeon? It’s going to be fun!”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
It’s going to be fun, he says.
Mitya comes home after their dungeon raid with his body feeling hot.
The dungeon was surprisingly very easy. Almost too easy.
Valeriy even made sure to finish all of the monsters with ease since it’s just a C-class dungeon. The abyssal creatures inside were not something that they found difficult to face, albeit quite annoying since the flower-shaped creature emitted some sort of gas or toxins that have definitely affected their body, now that Mitya thinks of it.
As soon as they both exited the dungeon, the Guide who went with them immediately checked if there were any signs of injuries, to which they both said no.
Except for the fact that their faces are quite flushed.
Mitya had thought it was due to the fact that they’ve been running and jumping around the dungeon as they fought the monsters. When the Guide continued to ask them, Mitya just smiled and said that it would probably be gone by the time he went home.
And by all creatures above, was he so wrong.
Mitya thinks, as a scientist, he knows his body all too well. But he also knows, as a scientist, that he has the tendency to overlook whatever is wrong with his current condition.
Just like right now.
Valeriy had dropped him off of his house an hour ago, one of the guard’s arms slung around his shoulder while the other held his waist, assisting him. He had complained to the guard how hot and dizzy he was feeling ever since leaving the dungeon, to which he got nagged a bit but it didn’t last long since he’s feeling hot, just like Mitya.
When Mitya invited the guard to stay for a bit to rest, Valeriy had declined the invitation almost too quickly. He was quick to leave the vicinity, hurried steps furthering their distance. Mitya, in a confused state, just shrugged and watched the guard leave.
In hindsight, it must have been a good thing that he didn’t insist for Valeriy to stay lest he wants to see his current condition.
A loud groan escapes Mitya’s lips. His throat feels dry despite having already drunk three glasses of water. His head feels unusually woozy, vision quite blurring that it almost reminds him of his awakening.
Mitya makes his way to his bedroom and plops down in the middle of his bed as soon as he reaches it.
He closes his eyes for a moment, bringing his right arm over eyes as he huffs slightly. He inhales, then smells a sweet scent clinging on his cloak. Mitya immediately sits up, feeling slightly panicked, ignoring how the room spins; his mind runs back to the information he had read years ago.
Gases emitted from abyssal creatures, which are usually from low-ranking monsters, tend to have a sweet scent and toxins that act as aphrodisiac. The sweet scent is often described as having a similar scent coming from Sweet Flowers.
Once these flower-shaped abyssal monsters are slain, nectars can be extracted from the stamen of their bodies which are highly potent of elemental energy and contain a high amount of aphrodisiac.
It’s an excerpt from one of his academic journals that focused on discussing the abyssal monsters’ side effects on human bodies. Mitya is thankful that he’s been curious enough to read it. Reading an absurd amount of books surely came in handy.
“Shit. Shit!” Mitya curses, his hands scrambling to remove his cloak around his heated body. Before his hand can even reach his scarf, it immediately tightens its grasp onto Mitya’s shoulders, seemingly not wanting to let go. The scientist tries to pry the offending material away from him, even threatening the scarf that he’d rip it off, but to no avail.
It just clinged to him even tighter.
“You have got to be fucking with me,” Mitya mutters under his breath, irritated at his scarf and the way his body feels incredibly hot despite the cold air that seeps into his room.
His legs feel too wobbly to even stand up and go to the bathroom to wash off the sweet scent that clings to his clothes. It’s making him dizzy.
Instead, he drops back down on his bed, his fingers unbuttoning his shirt, only for his hands to graze his already perked up nipples.
His body jerks up and twitches, a moan escaping his already parted lips. Mitya’s already flushed face feels even hotter from the embarrassing sound he just let out, biting his lower lip as if to stop himself from making any more noise. As he glances down, he’s immediately greeted with his erection straining against his pants.
With shaky hands, he slowly removes the thin shirt and tosses it somewhere in his room. The sweet scent invades his senses, making everything in his body feel sensitive in the slightest touch. No wonder the dungeon was so easy; both him and Valeriy had no idea they’d be experiencing such side effects.
Just the thought of Valeriy seems to do something to Mitya. And embarrassingly so, he feels the front of his pants have gotten tighter just from the thought of his guard alone.
Mitya lets out a shaky breath as he remembers Valeriy’s grip around his waist earlier. The guard almost carried him all the way back to the Armory Palace–he was even considering throwing Mitya over his shoulder after the scientist whined about how his body felt weak after the dungeon raid.
Valeriy’s grip onto Mitya’s waist is still engraved in his mind. And it makes him writhe in his bed, seeking for the muscled arm that was wrapped around him earlier; he wants Valeriy around him, inside him, and he whines, almost pathetically, when he realizes that he’s all alone in his bedroom, hot and bothered.
He flips on his front, letting out soft moans as he slightly ruts against his mattress, mouth dropping open from the friction. He grabs one of his pillows and places it underneath him, rubbing his already hard cock on the soft object. Mitya’s eyes are closed shut and the image of Valeriy underneath him forms in his mind, face tinged with pink as he buckles his hips up into Mitya, plunging his thick cock deep inside him that his insides carve in the shape of his cock.
He can still smell the sweet scent clinging to his body, making his thoughts jumbled and delirious. Mitya continues to hump his pillow, his mouth dropping open when he makes a particularly harsh thrust, feeling his body tingle all the way to the tips of his fingers.
There’s a dark wet patch forming on his pants as his length throbs painfully in it. Mitya gulps, his eyes unfocused as he looks down. He feels–even in his almost delirious state–drool slipping past the corner of his mouth as he continues to rock his hips down on the pillow, his fingers clenching the white fabric tightly that his knuckles turn white.
He finds himself calling out Valeriy’s name, his voice coming out whiny. “Fuck… Valeriy–aah!”
He wants Valeriy’s hands on him–his large, veiny hands around his neck, his long fingers pressing on his pulses just enough to drive him dizzy and gasping the guard’s name. He needs Valeriy inside him, fucking him so hard he drives him into submission.
He slows down when he feels the familiar knot forming in his stomach. He doesn’t want to come yet, not when Mitya can still feel his body being affected by the aphrodisiac.
The scarf that’s been clinging onto him quietly for the past few minutes suddenly yanks his head back, as if hearing Mitya’s own thoughts, grasping his white strands roughly. Mitya gasps wetly, his body arching backwards as his hips finally stop moving. It leaves him heaving, slightly calming down from his high.
Eventually Mitya finds himself wanting more. He quickly unzips his pants and throws it on the floor along with his drenched underwear.
With his back now finally flat on his bed, he takes a short moment to catch his breath. He’s still hard as a rock, the tip reddened and wet from his arousal and denied orgasm. Goosebumps rise as the cold air hits his fully exposed body.
A trembling hand makes its way down, wrapping just around the tip and starts stroking himself. Hot breaths echo softly around the room along with the wet, squelching sounds as he strokes his cock. Mitya feels his scarf snake around his upper body, wracking a shiver out of him when the soft fabric brushes against his sensitive nipples.
He bites his lower lip to stop himself from crying out Valeriy’s name. Mitya wants to feel Valeriy pressed against his back, playing with his nipples to the point that Mitya is crying from oversensitivity. He wants to feel the guard’s hot breath on his ears, he needs–
He needs Valeriy.
His eyes fly open, which he didn’t realize were already closed, when he feels his scarf wrap tightly around his neck, its finger-shaped ends pressing down on the sides of his neck, close enough to his pulse points. Mitya grits his teeth, trembling as he clutches his scarf.
It’s almost driving him insane how his scarf just knows what he needs, what he’s currently thinking. He almost wishes it would detach from him just to call Valeriy and help him with his current state.
Mitya feels lightheaded, not in a bad way, but just enough for him to let out a series of choked moans and whines as he strokes himself, the squelching sounds echoing inside his room. His head tips backwards as his scarf tightens his grip around his neck just enough for his eyes to roll back as he imagines Valeriy touching him–teasing his sensitive head that Mitya’s legs start to tremble, his other hand gripping his neck.
He feels his scarf let go of his neck after a while, giving Mitya the chance to breathe properly, chest heaving heavily. He feels too stimulated, the heat in his body still not subsiding. To make things worse, he feels incredibly empty.
He continues to run his hand down on his length, changing his pace from time to time, even giving the slit a teasing rub. His cock weeps from his own teasing. Mitya tilts his head backwards when he squeezes his hand around the tip, another breathy moan escaping his lips.
“Mmphh.. Haah.. Oh my god, fuck…”
It’s not often that Mitya curses. The only times the scientist curses out is when he feels frustrated or overstimulated, just like right now.
The aphrodisiac coming from the abyssal monsters are so potent Mitya thinks it’s going to take him multiple orgasms just to completely flush it out of his system.
Mitya mewls, biting his lower lip harshly he can taste blood, but his scarf pries his mouth open and sticks its end inside him. He gags and makes a choking sound, his hips jerking upward from pleasure. Harsh breathes tears from his mouth, eyes welling up with tears and runs down on his cheek, and Mitya feels the tight knot back in his stomach.
He cries out Valeriy’s name, muffled by his scarf, as he chases his orgasm. He begs for the man not inside his room to let him come, the heat overtaking his senses, it’s almost driving Mitya insane. He fastens his strokes while his other hand plays with his erect nipples, rubbing and pinching the sensitive buds.
He moans loudly, enough for it to echo in the room, followed by strings of curses as he begs for Valeriy to let him come, please, please, please, Valeriy, he’s so close–
Mitya’s body goes taut, back arching off the bed as he cries out Valeriy’s name as he comes. Stars flood his vision, his own ears feel like it’s been stuffed with cotton as he slowly comes down from his high. His own release drops on his stomach, painting it white while his legs tremble violently. Mitya pants, his scarf slipping out of his mouth, its tip dripping with saliva.
He can still feel the heat in the pit of his stomach, the effects of the aphrodisiac only subsiding a bit. It is evident with the way his spent cock grows erect once again after a while. But his body feels so tired, eyes drooping from exhaustion as he lay in his bed bonelessly.
He’s still stabilizing his breathing, staring blankly at his ceiling as the post-orgasm clarity slowly hits him.
“Fuck,” Mitya groans, covering his heated and sweaty face with his unsoiled hand.
How is he going to look Valeriy straight in the eye, is a problem for future Mitya.
A few seconds later, he passes out cold.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
The next time they meet, Mitya isn’t able to look Valeriy straight into the eye, with the way he becomes a blushing and fumbling mess after being reminded of what happened during that night.
And for some reason, Valeriy can’t look at Mitya without the tips of his ears turning red.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Mitya, in all honesty, thinks Valeriy is hot.
Very hot.
He cannot deny the fact that he’s been attracted to his guard since meeting him, even his first thought about the man during his awakening was that Valeriy was handsome, and it grew even stronger after that dungeon-aphrodisiac incident, as what Mitya calls it.
Objectively speaking, Valeriy is a gorgeous thirty-four year old man–his sharp jawline, tall nose, thin red lips, and the eyes, those deep purple eyes that draws Mitya in whenever he looks at them, feels himself drown if he stares for too long. Being in his thirties had definitely made the man even more attractive, not that Mitya is any younger than Valeriy.
And, Tsaritsa bless the genius scientist, don’t get him started about Valeriy’s strength.
As part of the military force of the Fatui, it is to no one’s surprise that Valeriy is built, especially having been trained to a strict military diet and exercise. The guard stands at six feet five, and most of the time, his intimidating figure looms over other people.
Safe to say, he’s the perfect bodyguard for Mitya.
The scientist has never said this to anyone, not even to his friends, but he loves it whenever Valeriy would use his strength to protect him. Mitya enjoys how his guard would take advantage of their size and strength difference, allowing Valeriy to grab him (sometimes even carrying him) as he takes him back to the Armory Palace.
There was one time when Mitya sneaked off from work to watch the performances at The Korolevskiy Theater after he’s been stuck inside his office for so long.
Usually, it would take about an hour and thirty minutes before Valeriy comes looking for him, even instructing other Sentinels to search all of Snezhnograd for the scientist. However, on that day, two hours had already passed but there were no signs of the bodyguard and his troops looking for him.
“Huh, that’s weird.” Mitya tilted his head to the side, tapping his pen on his chin while his scarf did the scratching on his head. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Did I miscalculate something?”
He remembers scanning the area around for the presence of the tall bodyguard, but there were no signs of him. Mitya thought that Valeriy might have had enough of his antics and had given up looking for him, but it wasn’t Valeriy’s nature for him just to abandon his duty–Mitya even thinks the man is married to his duty and work.
Before he could even make a step to go outside the theater, a hand suddenly grabbed onto his collar, dragging his body behind a wall where people couldn’t see him. Or them.
His back was slammed against the wall, not hard to leave a bruise but to elicit a surprised gasp from the scientist. When Mitya opened his eyes, he saw the familiar black uniform that Valeriy wears right in front of him.
The taller male caged him with his larger and taller body, arms on his side that there is no way Mitya could even escape even if he wanted to.
Mitya thought the gods were testing him that time since Valeriy was quite pissed, eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown. But heavens above, he looked so hot.
Mitya had tried so hard not to get an erection right there.
Much time has passed since Valeriy became Mitya’s personal bodyguard.
He’s grown accustomed to the presence of the taller male following him around, protecting him especially in the battlefield, that Mitya even finds himself looking specifically for Valeriy’s attention.
Just like right now.
Mitya plops onto the couch inside the green room, a small pout forming on his lips as he crosses his arms. His scarf wiggles behind him before patting his head as some sort of reassurance.
He hears Vodyanitsa sigh, probably even shaking her head, while she paces around her room. “You’re impossible, Mitya.” There’s a teasing lilt in her voice. “I can’t believe you’re using me as an excuse to run off from work,” she pauses, “again.”
Mitya looks at her in disbelief, feigning offense. “How could you think about me that way?” He gasps, placing a hand on his chest for dramatic effect. His scarf even gives her statement a thumbs down. Vodyanitsa only rolls her eyes at him.
“You enjoy running away from your bodyguard way too much.” She looks at him in amusement, pointing a well manicured index finger at him, emphasizing her words. “You like the thrill of it.”
And Mitya does. He likes the way Valeriy looks at him the moment he catches him, likes the display of strength just to haul him back to his research.
He just likes Valeriy’s attention to him.
Everything is going perfectly fine between them, except for the fact that Valeriy still refuses to get fully guided. There was some small progress between them, though. Valeriy agreed to receive small amounts of guiding from Mitya, just enough for the Sentinel to remove the toxins that built up inside his body and use his powers more freely during battles.
The door to the greenroom opens and the prima ballerina of the theater enters, still dressed in her rehearsal attire.
“Oh, hello Mitya,” Odette greets calmly. She sits on one of the greenroom sofas, sighing as soon as she leans back. Vodyanitsa drops down next to Odette, tugging the latter’s arm to grab her attention. “Listen to this, Odette. I was just telling Mitya here that he’s enjoying riling up Sir Valeriy too much. I might even start thinking that Mr. Energy Scientist likes him.”
Mitya gapes, eyebrows raising in surprise. “Excuse me?”
Odette gives Vodyanitsa’s statement a thoughtful hum. Mitya just looks at the two women a little dumbfounded as they talk about Mitya’s love life like he isn’t in the same room as them.
“Maybe he does,” Odette nods. She then looks directly at Mitya with a nod, “Maybe you even love him.”
Vodyanitsa gleefully claps beside her, totally in agreement with what the ballerina just uttered. “You’re so right, Odette! Mitya probably hasn’t even realized it yet.”
Mitya needs to let this conversation pause for a while. “Love is a strong word,” he says, folding his arms in front of his chest just like the way Valeriy does. “I do admit I find him attractive, though.”
“With the way you react to him, I was under the impression that you were in love with him,” The ballerina says then proceeds to shrug, “I guess not then.”
Sure, Valeriy might have done some things that made Mitya’s heart flutter multiple times, just like the time when he bought Mitya’s favorite book for him or taking care of him when he couldn’t properly do it for himself. Even the smallest gestures had set Mitya’s heart aflutter, especially when Valeriy just listens to one of his science tangents.
Still, it couldn’t possibly be love. Right? Right???
In any case, it may even seem like Valeriy is in love with him. Which he thinks is highly impossible. The guy is practically married to his work!
“Is getting an erection while being manhandled a sign of being in love?”
He receives two unimpressed looks coming from both Vodyanitsa and Odette at his question.
The fae shakes her head with an exasperated sigh and rests her head on Odette’s shoulder. Mitya thinks it’s cute how Vodyanitsa acts around Odette and the other just lets her, sometimes he even catches Odette having a fond smile on her face.
Mitya wonders if Valeriy gets fond of him sometimes–what???
His cheeks immediately heats up and it spreads all over his face. And to make matters worse, his scarf obnoxiously pats him in the head, grabbing the couple’s attention.
Odette raises an eyebrow in amusement while Vodyanitsa giggles, a hand coming up to her mouth. “Oh? And why are you blushing like a lovesick fool, Mitya?”
“I’m–Wha–No, I’m not!” He sputters, his cheeks a deep shade of red. “This is your fault, Vodyanitsa.”
Damn, where is Alyosha when he needs him the most? On second thought, the hunter would probably agree with the two ladies instead of him.
“How is it my fault you’re acting like some sort of idiot?” She huffs, and Mitya could only groan, slightly embarrassed because of his thoughts. Why now of all times would he think of Valeriy? Maybe Vodyanitsa is getting into his head. He needs to leave before things get even worse.
“Think about it, Mitya,” Odette suddenly says, “You’re a genius. You’ll figure it out soon.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Mitya actually took Odette’s advice and gave it some thought.
He knows that if he gives things some time to think about, he’ll eventually figure it out. It’s how he usually does, even in his research, especially during his time as a student. Thinking things through is kind of his thing.
But thinking about his feelings towards a certain bodyguard proves to be a difficult one. One of the most challenging things Mitya has ever faced, even. The second one, since creating a device to predict rift gates is his first one, but it’s not so far ahead that Mitya is certain it’s going down the rank soon.
How can Mitya even know if he’s in love, anyway?
He’s had his fair share of crushes and dates when he was in his teens and early twenties, but those don't really count as being in love, does it? Everything was casual and didn’t even last long. Mitya was too busy with his studies and research to even give a serious relationship some thought.
So thinking about his feelings for Valeriy is proving to be a difficult one. It’s like something or someone is preventing him from finding out the truth.
“What’s with the long face?” Mitya snaps out of his train of thoughts when he hears Alyosha’s voice. The hunter places his gun down on the table for Mitya to inspect which he gladly received, eyeing the rusty iron sight on Alyosha’s gun.
“It’s nothing much,” Mitya replies simply, his thoughts already running wild as he comes up with ideas for upgrades. “Just doing some thinking.”
Alyosha raises an eyebrow as he places down two cups of steaming hot coffee on the table for him and Mitya. “About what? Is this about your research?”
Mitya’s scarf grabs the manual and flips it open to the page on how to disassemble the sight. As Mitya tinkers with the firearm, he answers, “Not really. It’s just something that Odette and Vodyanitsa said last time we hung out.”
Alyosha makes a sound as if he knows what Mitya is talking about. He shifts his attention to the green haired male, all of his attention now on him. “Wait, you know it too?”
“Vodyanitsa told me,” Alyosha says with a shrug. There’s a pause. “I actually thought you were in love with him too.”
Mitya’s eyes widen, feeling his cheeks heat up just a bit. “Why does everyone think I’m in love with Valeriy?” He grumbles, placing the gun down.
Alyosha smiles in his cup, raising an eyebrow. “You really want me to answer that?”
He purses his lips into a thin line and shakes his head.
They chat about the most random things they could talk about. Alyosha gives Mitya an update about the construction of the furnace in Rankova Zorya, about his dungeon raids and trades. Mitya listens eagerly, occasionally quipping in whenever Alyosha recalls some ridiculous things that he encountered.
He also shares about his recent activities—like the dungeon he raided with Valeriy a week ago. Mitya’s laughter fills the room as he recalls what happened, the annoyed look on Valeriy’s face popping up in his mind once again.
“I swear you’re doing it on purpose,” Alyosha comments, giving Mitya a sigh. “You bet I did! It was funny though, but then he carried me away from the monster after I taunted it so there’s that.”
“Again, you’re doing it on purpose.”
Mitya continues to fix the iron sight on Alyosha’s gun, even swapping out the material with a more heavy duty than the previous one. He even makes some modifications to which Alyosha says he’ll be adding another payment but Mitya immediately turns him down.
“It’s free of charge! Come on, you’re acting like we’re not friends.” Mitya pouts, his hands busy screwing the loose screw on the handle as he finishes the upgrades. He eyes his work proudly, eyes sparkling and gives it a satisfied nod. “Mm, this looks good.”
“Thanks, Mitya.”
Mitya flashes him a proud smile and a peace sign, his scarf doing the same. Alyosha could only chuckle at his friend’s antics.
“So,” Alyosha trails, and Mitya gulps, immediately recognizing the tone in his voice. It’s the same one he uses when he wants to pry something out of him. Mitya thinks he’s been hanging out with Vodyanitsa too much that he’s also adapting the way the fae speaks. “Have you thought about it?”
“Thought about what?” Mitya asks, feigning innocence. Alyosha clearly doesn’t buy it. “Your feelings for Valeriy? I mean, I’m just curious, is all.”
The scientist laughs, raising an amused eyebrow at the other’s answer. “Really now?”
Alsyosha just rolls his eyes at him.
Mitya sighs, slumping down in his seat as he finally gives in. “I’m really not sure about it myself.” Mitya admits, his voice going soft, a small frown decorating his face. “I haven’t dated anyone in years, Alyosha. How could I be certain that I’m in love? All of my relationships were casual, too.”
The hunter doesn’t reply for a second, clearly giving it some thought on what to reply. “Well, for starters, I haven’t dated anyone. Since you know, it’s really not my priority.” Mitya nods at his answer.
“But the fact that you’re actually giving it some thought and even considering your feelings, it’s clear to me that you like Valeriy enough.”
Mitya tries to hide the blush that spreads on his cheeks by ducking his head low, his white hair hiding his face. He hears Alyosha let out a soft chuckle.
“Well, I do not want to be an asshole who immediately denies his feelings.” Mitya looks up once again despite the blush on his cheeks. Alyosha gives him a sigh, “You’re not an asshole. I just want you to be sure, you know?”
Mitya could only nod. Who knew thinking about romantic stuff can be this hard?
He’s read tons of books, romantic ones included. And it’s always described how the characters would feel butterflies in their stomach whenever they are in love. Portrayals of love in books always seem so sweet, despite it being cliche too, for Mitya. It’s why he loves reading them, indulging in his thoughts and getting lost thinking of scenarios if he would ever experience something similar to those.
But Mitya doesn’t experience the butterflies.
Mitya tries to recall all the time he has spent with Valeriy. There were instances when he feels his heart flutter, his stomach churning a little whenever he’s with Valeriy, but only passing them as excitement that someone actually is willing to listen to him, eccentricities and all.
Throughout the time Mitya spends with Valeriy, he has come to a realization that he feels safe. He feels always safe knowing that Valeriy is there to protect him, to take care of him. It’s why he’s always craving for his attention, pushing his buttons to get a reaction out of the composed man, riling him up by always sneaking out.
Mitya craves his attention.
It’s also why he feels a little bit hurt when Valeriy keeps on rejecting his offers to give him guiding. Mitya is certain it is not about his pride as an S+ Guide, although a small part of it is included, he begrudgingly admits, but it feels like Valeriy is also rejecting him, keeping him at a distance and drawing a line between them that he cannot cross.
Mitya cares. A lot.
So the thought of him actually being in love with Valeriy doesn’t even sound like a bad idea. Surely not…
Before Mitya can even be lost deep in his thoughts, he hears the door squeak open, followed by the sound of soft trudging against the wooden floor. He blinks, eyes focusing on the direction where the sound is coming from and sees the husky waltzing inside the place.
“Tugarin!” Mitya calls joyfully, arms opening to welcome the running dog towards him. He lets out a laugh when the dog bumps its nose on his cheek. His scarf shimmies behind him before it gives Tugarin a light pat on the head as a greeting. “Awww, how have you been, cutie? Doing good, huh?”
“I haven’t seen Tugarin this excited,” Alyosha muses, placing down Tugarin’s food in his bowl. “I think the last time he was this excited was when Lumine visited.”
He hasn't personally met Lumine yet, but apparently she’s a travelling S+ Sentinel with her flying companion, been travelling the different nations and sometimes even helping resolve their problems, as what Mitya heard from Alyosha’s stories. He would love to meet them at some point, curious as to what kind of person they are to get Tugarin so excited too.
He turns to the dog with a grin. “I hope I’m still your favorite, Tugarin.”
“Wrong, I am the favorite.” Alyosha says. Mitya huffs, “You’re not included. He’s basically your son!”
Mitya continues playing with Tugarin, showing the dog with his affectionate kisses until he rests on Mitya’s lap, feeling sleepy as the scientist pats his back, fingers softly brushing his fur.
He recalls the time when he’s still getting to know Valeriy, asking him about mundane questions whether Valeriy likes cats or dogs more.
“I wish I had a dog too,” Mitya suddenly states, his fingers absentmindedly brushing Tugarin’s fur, looking at the sleeping dog with fond eyes. “But I’m usually stuck in the lab so I wouldn’t even have time to take care of them.” He sighs forlornly.
“I could take care of them when you’re busy,” Alyosha offers. Mitya shakes his head with a lighthearted chuckle. “I appreciate the offer, but I really don’t think I can take care of one. Maybe once I retire?”
Alyosha chuckles, agreeing with a nod. “Sure. That way you wouldn’t be lonely.”
“Hey!” Mitya pouts, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Oh, I just remembered. Sarge once told me he found Tugarin barking at him one time when the two of you were in Snezhnograd.” Mitya suddenly says, “He thought that he annoyed Tugarin somehow but apparently he was just calling him since Tugarin saw some shoplifters at one of the shops. In broad daylight! Anyway, I thought Sarge was so cute because he was so worried he might have done something.”
Alyosha watches as his friend’s eyes light up and his expression softens at the mention of his bodyguard’s name, a soft tinge of pink tinting the top of Mitya’s cheeks as he fondly narrates what happened.
And Mitya says he’s not in love, huh?
“—Told me also that their family got dogs, too! I think one was also the same breed as Tugarin, but they have gray fur instead of black. I forgot the other breeds though. Sarge said he’d let me meet them one day, especially his favorite of the bu—why are you looking at me like that?”
Mitya stops himself as soon as he sees Alyosha smiling at him like he just won the lottery. He feels a nervous sweat building on his temples as Alyosha leans a bit forward, resting his cheek on his palms, looking at Mitya in mild amusement.
“You,” he points out, “have been talking about Valeriy for quite some time now.”
Mitya already has lost count the amount of times he blushed today.
“That’s one of the signs I’ve seen people in love do.”
Mitya almost shrieks, only for his scarf to quickly cover his mouth. He almost shoots Alyosha a glare when he sees him heave a sigh of relief.
His heart is thumping inside his rib cage that it’s almost deafening his ears. His face feels hot down to his neck, eyes almost tearing up due to embarrassment and realization.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Fuck!!!!!!
“Are you calm now?” He isn’t. Certainly not when he realizes that maybe he is in love with Valeriy.
His heart is still beating too loudly.
He gives Alyosha a short nod. His scarf unwraps itself from him, settling down on his shoulder instead like an arm that slings around his shoulder.
Mitya looks at Alyosha, tears in his eyes and red cheeks, as he asks, “Alyosha, what do I do?”
Alyosha wants to laugh, but seeing Mitya almost crying upon his realization, he decides to reign in his laughter although he couldn’t help but let out a snicker or two. “Why are you asking me? You do know I barely have any experience.”
“I can’t ask Vodyanitsa and Odette!” Mitya exclaims, “They’ll tease me to death.”
“Or you could always confess?”
Mitya looks at him incredulously. “He’ll reject me.”
Gods give Alyosha strength. His friend is going to drive him insane. “You haven’t even tried it.” He places a hand on his hips, looking at Mitya like a disappointed mother.
Mitya sighs, looking like a sad puppy. “You know how dedicated he is to his work,” he says with a sigh. “He’s practically married to his duty.”
“So, you basically.”
The scientist blinks in confusion. “What?” What does Alyosha even mean? He thinks his brain has turned into mush that whatever his friend is saying is starting to not make sense.
Another sigh. “Just give it some thought if you want to confess or not,” Alyosha says. “Although, I am pretty sure that your feelings are reciprocated.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Hunter’s instincts.”
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Realizing his feelings for his bodyguard has certainly done something to him.
Mitya can’t help but feel a bit conscious while in the presence of Valeriy. They’re currently inside his laboratory, doing their usual work—Mitya’s browsing his collection of books while Valeriy stands in one corner, leaning his back against the wall as he silently reads one of Mitya’s own written published research.
The soft light seeping inside from the window casts a warm glow on the guard’s face, the light accentuating his features. Mitya’s eyes dart from his long eyelashes, to the bridge of his nose down to the slightly parted pink lips.
Was Valeriy always this good-looking?
He didn’t notice that he’s been staring at Valeriy for quite some time now, immediately whipping his head to the bookshelf in front of him when he makes eye contact with the guard.
The ladder wobbles underneath his weight and Mitya closes his eyes as he feels himself falling backwards, his feet slipping from the ladder as he waits for the moment the back of his head hits the floor.
“Mitya!”
Loud noise echoes around the room, the ladder crashing down just a few distance from both of them. The books that Mitya has been holding earlier now lay scattered on the floor.
Mitya feels something hard pressing on the back of his head, a gauntlet covered arm wrapping around his waist. When he opens his eyes, he sees himself on top of Valeriy, his palms resting on his guard’s chest, as they both lie down on the floor.
“Are you okay?” He hears Valeriy ask. But Mitya can’t respond, clearly distracted, not when he can feel the soft yet firm pecs of his guard under his palm. Shit.
He feels something stirring up alive.
Mitya restrains himself from squeezing the soft pecs to save himself from humiliation. And for Valeriy’s own sanity too. He looks up at Valeriy’s deep purple eyes. “W-What was that?”
“I asked if you were okay.” Valeriy starts to sit up, still holding Mitya in his arms. The scientist follows, pliant, savoring the moment. It’s not everyday that he’s got to experience this type of luxury.
“O-Oh,” Mitya awkwardly laughs, “Yeah, I’m fine!”
Valeriy raises an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “Why were you distracted then? It’s not like you, Mitya.”
He likes the way Valeriy says his name, smoothly rolling off his tongue. He wonders how it would sound when Valeriy is panting above him, grunting and softly mumbling his name—Stop!!
Mitya needs to get a hold of himself.
“Ah, I was just thinking of… something.” Mitya answers honestly. Although, he couldn’t say that he was thinking about him. “I’m sorry, Sarge. Are you hurt?”
“Not at all.” Valeriy shakes his head. Mitya can feel Valeriy’s fingers slowly brushing the back of his head gently. He just wants to stay in his arms for a long time and ignore all of the piling up work in his desk. Valeriy feels so warm, his arms secured around Mitya’s waist. Mitya can feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeat underneath his palms.
Only then Mitya realizes that they’ve been in the same position for quite some time now. He looks up and immediately flushes when he sees Valeriy looking directly at him. Quickly, he averts his gaze away from the guard, ignoring the way his cheeks feel hot.
“Um.. you can let go of me now,” Mitya says, chuckling awkwardly.
His words seem to snap Valeriy out of his thoughts. He untangles his fingers from his hair minutely, slowly unwraps his arms from his slim waist and Mitya immediately misses his warmth. Mitya tries not to pout as he slowly untangles himself from Valeriy’s body.
“Oh. Right. Of course.” Valeriy nods, his response coming out stiffly. He holds out his hand, which Mitya gladly accepts as he stands up, dusting off his clothes from any dirt.
Mitya’s eyes widen when Valeriy’s hand comes to brush a stray hair away from his face, tucking the strand behind his ears. He grits his teeth to stop himself smiling like an idiot, even biting his lower lip, but the way the blush spreads on his cheeks is a dead give away.
When he takes a look at Valeriy’s face, Mitya almost flinches at the way his guard’s eyes soften as he looks at him. Mitya’s heart beats loudly in his chest, so loud that he thinks Valeriy might start to hear it.
His scarf, which has been awfully quiet throughout this time, suddenly wraps itself around the lower half of his face, covering his cheeks. His scarf really knows how to embarrass himself further; always picking the right timing.
Valeriy watches with mild amusement as the two bicker, with Mitya trying to yank the scarf away from his face.
“Alright, you should go back to work, Mitya,” Valeriy says, patting the scarf as if to calm it down. It immediately loosens its grip on Mitya’s face, allowing the scientist to finally breathe properly.
Great, Mitya thinks exasperatedly. If it isn’t going to be himself who’s going to expose his feelings for the guard, it’s definitely going to be his scarf seeing as it’s taking a liking to Valeriy as much as he does.
Mitya nods, scampering away from Valeriy as he picks up the books he’s been reading earlier. “Yup. I should totally do that.” His laughs come out a little awkward but it seems like Valeriy doesn’t mind.
After a while, he finds himself back at his desk, reading one of the books that talks about metals and heat. Valeriy keeps quiet as he stands guard near the door, going back to the book he’s reading earlier. Silence fills the room save for the sound of pen scratching against the paper as Mitya tries to draw formulas and diagrams related to his current research.
His eyes would drift to where the taller man is standing, still reading Mitya’s work, whenever he finds himself pausing whatever he’s doing. He’d find himself staring before going back to work when Valeriy’s eyes would find his. It happens multiple times–Mitya stealing glances while Valeriy would catch him looking before going back to whatever Mitya is doing.
Hours have passed since they’ve been stuck inside the laboratory. Valeriy glances at Mitya and sees him writing down on his journal, now wearing his glasses. There’s a crease between his eyebrows as he writes, his other hand clutching his hair while the scarf is holding a book in front of the scientist.
The sun has already set by the time Valeriy looks out of the window. Any minute now before Mitya starts to get hungry and complain about how his head is hurting from the lack of food.
He silently slips out of the laboratory, softly closing the door on his way out to not disturb the scientist. Having been around Mitya for quite some time now, he already knows what to do and not to do whenever he is in a flow state. He knows that any noise can snap Mitya out of his focus, so he keeps it always in mind to not make any loud noise whenever the scientist is deep in his thoughts.
Valeriy makes quick work of grabbing Mitya’s meals from his favorite shops in Snezhnograd. He even stops by Kvasnik to buy Mitya’s favorite drink.
The night’s air is usually colder this time that Valeriy even feels a little cold despite being bundled up with layers from his uniform. As soon as he gets his order, he makes his way back to the Armory Palace hastily, already missing the warmth coming from Mitya’s laboratory.
By the time he comes back, he sees Mitya’s head tipping backwards, his eyes closed as he tugs on the black turtleneck he’s wearing.
“Mitya?” Valeriy calls, a small frown making its way to his face, wondering if something’s wrong with the other male.
Upon hearing Valeriy’s voice, Mitya straightens up from his seat before excitedly walking to his direction. He relaxes, taking note of the slight bounce on the scientist’s steps.
“Sarge! There you are,” Mitya says as he makes his way towards Valeriy’s direction. His eyes shine brightly under the warm lights. “I was wondering where you were. You suddenly vanished.”
Valeriy allows Mitya to grab the paper bags in his hand while he places the scientist’s favorite drink on the table. “I just bought you some dinner. I figured you’d be hungry.”
Mitya blinks, pausing. “Oh,” He mutters, before a smile tugs on his lips. “That’s sweet of you. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” Valeriy replies as he hands Mitya his meal. The scientist accepts it gratefully before taking a hungry bite of the food. His eyes closed in satisfaction as the flavors exploded in his mouth, slowly satiating his hunger. He didn’t even notice he’s hungry until Valeriy handed him his food.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Sarge?” Mitya asks after he swallows his meal, noticing that Valeriy is just watching him eat. Not that he minds, but it’s a little embarrassing when he’s the only one eating.
Valeriy settles down on the chair in front of him. “I’ll be fine.”
Mitya hums. He grabs the other food that Valeriy ordered from the paper bag and slides it in front of him. Valeriy raises a questioning eyebrow and asks, “What’s this?”
“You also need to eat, Sarge. You’ve been stuck with me the whole day so I know you haven’t eaten since lunch.” Valeriy stays silent at Mitya’s reply, knowing full too well that he’d be losing if he tries to argue. Mitya continues, “Besides, you bought a lot. I can’t finish all of these.”
Valeriy gives in and finds himself sharing a meal with Mitya. The scientist smiles gleefully, relishes in the way the bodyguard gives in to his whims. It’s mostly Mitya talking during their dinner, sharing the most mundane things he can think before he stirs the conversation to his research while Valeriy just listens to him as he eats.
The guard would give him a nod, sometimes even a hum, as he listens to Mitya talk about something scientific that he really cannot fully understand. Valeriy watches as Mitya explains to him the new development he just found out earlier, how the formula he’s been trying earlier finally worked and might be even used for the creation of their device. His voice is tinged with excitement, enthusiastically waving his hands as he explains, even his scarf would pop out to give some thumbs up as if in agreement
Mitya looks like he’s absolutely having fun as he explains something about the relationship of elemental energy infused with heat and metal that Valeriy cannot help but smile as he listens.
“--Which, usually, metals cannot actually handle extreme heat. That’s why infusing it with elemental energy, preferably cryo, would be a suitable way to–” Mitya pauses, whatever he’s saying flying out the window when he sees the corners of Valeriy’s lips twitch upwards. His eyes widen, unable to stop himself from smiling as well.
“Sarge! Are you smiling?!” He cannot help but ask excitedly.
Valeriy looks taken aback, the previous smile on his face drops immediately as if it wasn’t there. “What? No, I’m not.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest in defense. “You must be seeing things.”
But Mitya isn’t buying his denial, absolutely sure that he’s seen Valeriy smile just now. He laughs, “You clearly did!”
As if on cue, Valeriy’s smile comes back. It’s even a little wider this time, seeing how much Mitya enjoys seeing his smile.
The scientist pauses, a blush blooming on his face as he looks at Valeriy’s face. Who knew that the stoic- usually blanked face Sentinel and Major from the Armory Palace could look this cute when he’s smiling?
Mitya hears the thump, thump, thump once again coming from inside of his chest, his ears deafened by the drowning sound of his own heartbeat. He knows that he’s looking like a tomato right now as he looks at the way Valeriy smiles.
But he can’t help it–he can’t help but find the Sentinel cute. Mitya has imagined it many times before on how Valeriy would look when he smiles, and every time it sends his heart fluttering as he lies down on his bed smiling like a teenager.
“Mitya? Mitya!” He snaps back to reality from the worried tone coming from Valeriy’s voice, accompanied by his scarf tapping him on his shoulder.
“Your face looks red,” Valeriy says, placing a hand on his forehead and Mitya cannot help but flinch at the sudden contact. Oh, gods. He’s gonna think I hated it!!!
“I’m–I’m fine!” Mitya laughs after fumbling his words, placing both of his hands on his cheeks as an attempt to cover his heated face. He fans his face with his hand, while the other tugs on his turtleneck. “Isn’t it kinda hot in here?”
Valeriy, still looking a bit worried, just raises an eyebrow at him. “Is it?” He questions, “Do you want me to open the window a bit?”
Mitya gives him a small nod before he grabs his cold drink and places it on his cheek to alleviate the heat. “Sure. Thanks.”
The other male stands up, opening the window to let the cold air inside the laboratory. Mitya heaves a breath of relief, leaning his back on his seat.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Valeriy asks once again as he makes his way back to his direction. Mitya gives him a thumbs up, smiling. “I’m fine, Sarge. Just felt a little hot, that’s all.”
“If you say so,” Valeriy hums as he pats Mitya’s head softly. It’s almost embarrassing how Mitya quickly melts under his touch. He just hopes Valeriy doesn’t notice it. “We don’t want our beloved Guide getting sick now.”
His heartbeat picks up its pace again. “B-Beloved?!” Mitya squeaks, looking at Valeriy with wide eyes. The latter only chuckles at his reaction before gathering the trash from the table and heads towards the door. “I’ll be back.”
As soon as Valeriy is out of sight, Mitya slumps down on the chair, covering his heated face with his hands once again. He feels his scarf giving him a pat on the head in sympathy.
Valeriy is going to be the death of him.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Being in love is actually making his mind a mess.
He isn’t like this with his previous relationships, as Mitya can recall. But whenever he’s with Valeriy, he feels himself getting giddy, wanting the taller man’s attention solely on him.
Yet despite that, he can’t help but feel nervous.
The past few weeks had been very busy for both Mitya and Valeriy, having been dumped with a lot of laboratory work, left and right dungeon raids and rescue missions that they can barely talk to each other properly aside from the short greetings and situation updates.
It also doesn’t help that Mitya feels nervous (in a good way) whenever Valeriy approaches him. His heart pounds loudly in his chest, ears flushing in a shade of red as the taller man’s deep purple eyes look at him. Mitya tries not to stare for too long, given how his cheeks are already flushed, lest he wants Valeriy to know what he really feels.
“Oh, fancy seeing you, Sarge,” Mitya said one time when they met in the hallways of the Armory Palace. Valeriy just got back from doing his patrol, bumping into the scientist who just came out from the central laboratory. Mitya looked startled, like he wasn’t expecting to see Valeriy at all. His cheeks were flushed, eyes shaky as he tried to avoid looking at him.
Valeriy gave him a nod, albeit confused. “Hello, Mitya. We just saw each other two hours ago.”
The scientist gripped the books and clipboard in his arms, flashing the guard a small smile and an awkward sounding laugh. “Is that so?” He glances at his wrist before looking back at Valeriy. “Would you look at the time? I have some work to do, so I’ll be back in my lab. I’ll see you later!”
Mitya was quick to run off, almost stumbling along the way as he ran towards the stairs leading to the third floor.
Valeriy raised a curious eyebrow, watching the direction where Mitya ran off. Since when was Mitya so quick to go back to his work? He knows the scientist is dedicated to his research, but it would usually take Mitya a few hours or days for him to actually focus back on his work.
Even at their dinner that night, Mitya stayed relatively quiet unlike the times when he was brimming full of stories to share. Valeriy thought that he was just tired, having been stuck in his laboratory for hours without break. He didn’t question the scientist, though, instead he enjoyed the warm silence between them.
He caught onto Mitya stealing glances at him, and when he was about to ask the scientist would turn away, as if he didn’t do anything.
Valeriy didn’t press him about it.
Mitya thinks nothing much has really changed between them once he realizes his own feelings for the guard. He still sneaks out of his work sometimes just to rile Valeriy up, which the latter would always catch him as soon as he finds that Mitya isn’t in his office working, much to the scientist’s delight. Even their dinners had become part of their routine, sharing a meal inside Mitya’s office whenever both of them have to stay up beyond working hours as Mitya continues with his research and Valeriy guarding him until he goes home for the night.
He notices that Valeriy looks a bit more relaxed now, especially when they are alone. The usual blank look on his face is now replaced with a softer look whenever they are alone, sometimes even giving Mitya the smile that he always wanted to see.
It never fails to make his heart flutter, make his cheeks heat up that Mitya had already lost count how many times he’s blushed in a span of a few hours just seeing Valeriy’s smile.
If Vodyanitsa were to see him, she’d be probably laughing at him right now. “You are so down bad, Mitya.” She would probably say in a teasing voice.
He’s thankful that she’s not on this mission right now, given that she’s not a Sentinel, and instead the prima donna of The Korolevskiy Theater.
Mitya is currently assisting some of the Sentinels who were injured after their dungeon raid alongside with the other Guide present, giving them the compatible amount of guiding that they can absorb.
The dungeon was an A rank one while also having two dungeon masters. It spawned near the Hesperides Mansion in the southeast portion of Snezhnaya, its surrounding area getting affected by stray lightning. There weren’t many mobs of monsters inside the dungeon, but having two dungeon masters was proving it quite difficult.
They are accompanied by Lady Marionette this time, alongside with her robot assistant Fagio and her other robotic creations. Since she is an S-class Sentinel who wields the cryo element as well, she accompanies Valeriy in the frontlines while Mitya tries to give them support from a distance during battle.
It’s a good thing that Mitya is capable of remote guiding and damage amplification, since he isn’t able to get near the monster without feeling nauseous due to its status ailment affecting all Guides present in the dungeon.
Their expedition party is smaller in size than the previous one when Tartaglia accompanied them, only bringing Mitya as one of the Guides and another one from Marionette’s soldiers.
Mitya looks around the area and sees Valeriy helping out some of the Sentinels in organizing the specimen samples that they have collected. He notices Sandrone checking the specimen samples on the side, making small talk with Valeriy along the way.
As if sensing Mitya’s gaze on him, Valeriy looks from Sandrone to his direction, his deep purple eyes locking with Mitya’s lilac ones. The scientist flinches, turning his head back to the Sentinel he’s currently guiding.
“Ow, ow, ow, Mr. Dmitry, you’re pressing too hard.” He hears the Sentinel groan. Mitya curses, almost dropping the cotton ball from his hand. “Oh, goodness! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Mitya asks after apologizing profusely. He gathers enough of his guiding energy in his hand, letting it flow towards the injured Sentinel.
Mitya lets out a sigh when he finally sees the Sentinel relax and decides to continue patching up his wound.
He gathers the supplies back inside the first-aid kit as soon as he’s done, standing up to make his way towards the tent where he’s supposed to be staying. As he’s making his way towards the tent, his wrist is suddenly grabbed, the person holding his wrist gripping it tightly. He finds himself inside the tent with Valeriy.
There’s a serious look on Valeriy’s face as he stands in front of Mitya, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Are you okay? Do you still feel nauseous?”
Mtiya feels the taller male’s intense gaze on him, roaming around his body as he looks for any signs of injuries. It makes him nervous, having Valeriy’s attention solely on him. His breaths come out short yet subtle as to not alert the guard in front of him, his heartbeat going erratic in his chest.
His grip on the kit tightens, gulping as he gives Valeriy a nod. Mitya tries to avoid Valeriy’s intense eyes, his gaze remains at the ground to stop himself from blushing. His knees feel weak, afraid that they may give out any moment now.
“I’m okay now, Sarge,” Mitya replies softly, “What about you? Do you need guiding? Or want me to patch some wounds? I saw you getting hit by the Snegovik earlier and it was pretty hard. How about you sit down there while I light up the torch–”
He feels Valeriy’s hand on his face and Mitya immediately stops rambling, his thoughts going blank as he feels Valeriy’s thumb caress his cheek. Mitya’s grip on the first-aid kit loosens just slightly, his eyes now finding Valeriy’s deep purple ones. “Sarge?”
Valeriy’s thumb continues to rub his cheek ever so slightly, his touch warm despite the cold metal of his gauntlet touching his cheeks. Mitya tries not to lean into his touch as he watches Valeriy’s face, his expression morphing from a tensed look to something that Mitya couldn’t quite understand.
“Did I do something wrong?”
The question takes him aback, especially with the way Valeriy’s deep voice sounds so soft. His eyebrows are furrowed in the slightest bit, his eyes still looking directly at Mitya. The scientist blinks and shakes his head. “What makes you think that?”
There’s a pause. Valeriy bites his lower lip briefly before he answers, “I thought I might have done something to hurt you that’s why you were avoiding me.”
What??? “What? I’m not mad at you, Sarge.” Mitya grabs the hand that’s on his cheek, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You didn’t do anything to hurt me.”
He guides the Sentinel to sit on the bed, the frame creaking under his weight while Mitya busies himself by placing the first-aid kit beside Valeriy and lighting up the small Kresnik Torch inside the tent to keep them warm.
While doing so, he can feel Valeriy’s gaze following his every move. He relishes on the undivided attention his guard is giving him.
Mitya goes back to where Valeriy is sitting. His scarf opens the kit as he sits beside the taller male to patch up his wounds and the bruise forming on his cheek. They both stay silent as Mitya dabs a cotton with ointment on his cheeks, yet he still feels the same intense gaze coming from Valeriy on his face.
He ushers the taller male to remove his top clothes in order to put ointment on his wounds since he was hit on the back earlier. Valeriy complies silently, placing his neatly folded clothes on the bed.
The purple aura is back around his guard, a small amount of toxins building up inside his body. Mitya frowns as he rubs the ointment on Valeriy’s bruised back. “Are you still sure you don’t want to receive guiding?”
Valeriy gives him a court nod. “I am sure.” He turns his head to the side, giving Mitya a small smile. “Please don’t worry about it too much, Mitya.”
Mitya plops down on the bed as soon as he is finished, his scarf closing the kit and placing it on the floor. He watches as Valeriy straightens up his back, turning to Mitya once again, shirtless.
He averts his gaze.
“Why do you keep on avoiding my eyes?”
The question makes his gaze snap back to Valeriy. There’s a mildly amused look on his face, lips forming into a small smile. Mitya pouts, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do you think I haven’t noticed you avoiding me?” Valeriy asks, fully facing him now. And gods, does Mitya want to bury his face on those soft pecs in front of him; he wants to feel Valeriy’s warm hug as he buries his face on his chest. But he knows there’s an important thing they have to talk about right now. “Mitya, did I do something to hurt you?”
Mitya shakes his head. “Absolutely not! And I wasn’t avoiding you, per se. I was just… thinking about a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
You. But Mitya can’t say that. Not yet, at least.
Instead, he says, “You know, the research, the project and stuff.” He shrugs.
Valeriy stays silent for a while before a soft sigh escapes from his mouth, seemingly buying what Mitya said. It’s not a lie, but it isn’t entirely the truth. Mitya really has been thinking of the research and project, but thoughts of Valeriy also occupy a lot in his mind.
“You had me worried,” the guard admits. Mitya raises an eyebrow at that. “Why?”
“I thought I made you uncomfortable,” says Valeriy, a little sheepish.
Mitya laughs, shaking his head. “Sarge, you could never. I’m sorry for acting weird and making you worried, too.” He gives his guard a small apologetic smile, scratching his cheek lightly. Valeriy grabs his hands away from his cheek to stop him from scratching and holds his hand instead. “Stop that, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
“You were incredible earlier,” Valeriy suddenly says after a while, his hand still not letting go of Mitya’s own. The scientist blushes, both his cheeks and the hand that Valeriy is holding feel hot. “Despite feeling nauseous earlier, you still did your best to help both Lady Marionette and I.”
“I was just doing my job as your Guide,” Mitya mumbles, his scarf moving to cover his heated cheeks. It’s like a Krensik Kristall is inside his face for it to be this heated.
Valeriy chuckles, patting the hand that he’s holding. “Sure,” he muses, “You were still incredible, though.”
Mitya thinks he’s going to die from embarrassment because of Valeriy’s compliments. “Keep praising me and I might just develop a kink.”
“Oh?” Valeriy raises an amused eyebrow, letting out a chuckle.
“I’m kidding!” Mitya groans, his eyes closing as he tries to hide his face from the taller male who’s currently looking at him in amusement. “Stop teasing me.”
“You were the one who said that.”
Mitya pouts, sending a glare to the guard’s direction. “Anyway! Put your clothes on and take a rest already.” Mitya points to the other bed inside the tent. Another amused chuckle.
Valeriy stands up and finally lets go of his hand. “Alright, alright. You should take a rest now, too.”
Later on that night, Mitya falls asleep to the soft sound of Valeriy’s breathing.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Mitya thinks Valeriy can be quite overprotective at times.
Don’t get him wrong, he knows that it’s just his duty to protect Mitya as he is his guard, but there are moments when Mitya would sometimes wish that Valeriy would just give him a pass whenever he sneaks off from work.
And it’s not like Mitya sneaks out just to spite him, although sometimes he does. He goes to the theater and his favorite places to gather inspiration instead of being stuck in his lab, thank you very much.
He’s been in his lab for the past few days, testing the formulas and devices despite the many failures already. Mitya feels stuck; his whole body is itching to go out and probably raid some dungeon somewhere for specimen collection or even some loot but he knows that Valeriy wouldn’t let him go raid a dungeon alone, not without him.
Fortunately, the guard is having another training for his team, from what Mitya can remember is going to take at least the whole morning.
Mitya tilts his head backwards, letting out a groan as he leans on his chair and tilting it backwards on its two feet. His pen rolls on the table, forgotten by the scientist. “I’m so bored, Scarf.” He says to his scarf, who tilted its end to the side, as if it's raising an eyebrow at him if it was human. “I’ve stuck with this research for so long there's literally nothing coming up inside my head.”
The sentient scarf wiggles in front of him for a moment before pointing towards the window. Mitya raises an eyebrow, amused. “Are you suggesting…?”
His scarf gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Mitya laughs, patting the part of his scarf that’s wrapped around his neck proudly. Who knew that his own scarf would suggest going out and sneaking off from work?
The scientist drops back down, the chair making a loud thump against the floor that echoes around the quiet room. Thankfully there’s no one guarding the outside of his laboratory right now, else someone would just suddenly barge in and ask what happened.
Mitya gathers his things, the ones he usually brings with him whenever he goes out. Namely, his pen and notebook. He grabs his purple cloak from the small couch inside the room, his knee almost bumping onto the small table beside it. The books on top wobble but with his quick reflex and with the help of his scarf, they prevent it from falling down and making additional mess inside.
He breathes a sigh of relief. His laboratory is messy enough from pieces of papers and piles of books scattered around.
Just as he is wearing his coat, he hears voices coming from the hallway, voices coming out muffled due to the closed door separating them. Mitya looks at his scarf. “Oh no, is Sarge back?”
Mitya tries to listen from the people speaking outside and he recognizes one of the voices coming from one of the Armory Palace soldiers and the other from a scientist from the Energy Commission, his colleague.
“Oh,” he says, almost sounding disappointed. “It’s not him.
As he continues to button up his coat, he tries to listen to the two voices just outside his office.
“There’s a dungeon that re-opened in the Flamefeather Valley just a few hours ago. Aren’t you going to raid that dungeon?”
“Sir Valeriy hasn’t instructed us for any missions today, Miss. Mostly likely the dungeon is going to be left open for a while since it’s already been raided before. It just needs to be culled so monsters wouldn’t spawn too much.”
Mitya smiles in his scarf. “Well, isn’t this great?” He mumbles, patting his coat down to straighten it.
Once Mitya is sure no one is standing in front of his door, he immediately walks out and heads downstairs to the front door. He makes sure that he isn’t looking like he’s trying to sneak out, greeting the scientists and soldiers inside the Armory Palace as he passes by with a friendly smile and wave.
It’s quite sunny today despite the cold air hitting his face as soon as he steps out of the building. He tightens the coat around his body, placing his hands inside the pockets to keep them warm. Mitya silently walks behind the pillars, avoiding any soldiers that might see him and eventually report him to Valeriy.
Once Mitya secures that no one is around, he hastily runs towards his usual escape route, jumping down the tall wall on the secluded part of the headquarters before running around towards the back. His feet hit the snow covered ground, softening his landing.
Adrenaline rushes throughout his body as he summons up his electro energy, engulfing him as he leaps into the air and flies to the train station.
Mitya buys a ticket to Rankova Zorya, the station closest to the Flamefeather Valley, and quickly boards the train as soon as it arrives. He tries to avoid talking to people in case some people recognize him, especially without Valeriy with him.
The scientist busies himself with his notebook, writing down his thoughts and doing little sketches to fill up the page. As he’s writing, he feels his scarf tap him on the shoulder.
He gives it a small hum in response. “What?” He asks as he looks at his scarf, placing his notebook down on the table in front of him. His scarf taps on his notebook, on the doodle of Valeriy on one of the corners. It’s one of his few doodles of his guard, his face schooling his usual blank look that Mitya is so fond of.
His eyes soften, a smile forming on his lips as he looks at the drawing before he looks back at his scarf. “Are you worried about Valeriy?” The scarf gives him a thumbs up. His scarf can be cute sometimes, although he remembers that it’s an extension of his own consciousness. He takes back the thought.
“I’ll talk to him when he finds out we sneaked out again,” Mitya says in reassurance. Mostly to himself. Knowing full too well how Valeriy is when he gets mad, Mitya could only hope that the guard wouldn’t be too mad this time. He shudders at the thought.
They soon arrive at the Rankova Zorya train station which thankfully isn’t packed with many people aside from the vendors that are busy with their stalls to pay any attention to him. He takes this opportunity to head straight to the northern part of the area where the dungeon spawned.
The trek towards the dungeon is quite an easy one since there were no monsters around. The Flamefeather Valley dungeon was raided years before Mitya even awakened as a Guide, having been claimed by the Harbingers. Despite that, it can still randomly open from time to time, with minimal monsters spawning inside, which is why it also needs to be culled.
Mitya has heard of the dungeon before. And while he hasn’t entered it, he’s read from articles that the environment inside the dungeon is unlike the climate that can be seen in Snezhnaya–its environmental structure is similar to an autumn season, trees with orange leaves are prominent inside along with the luminescent flowers that are always seen in dungeons and rifts.
He cannot wait to enter the dungeon. His excitement courses throughout his body, that even his scarf can feel it with the way it wiggles and vibrates around his neck.
Soon enough, he sees the familiar cosmic entrance in the northern part of the area.
As Mitya approaches the entrance, he can feel the warm air emanating from it, unlike the cold one that’s surrounding the whole place. There are no monsters around, yet Mitya cannot help but feel a little nervous, ominous even, and excited at the same time.
He’s just here to explore and collect specimen samples anyway.
Valeriy’s warning about dungeon masters echoes in his mind all of a sudden. “Run if you think you cannot defeat it.”
Gulping, Mitya enters the dungeon.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
Valeriy sighs as soon as the training ends, dropping down on one of the chairs in the training grounds. His body feels stiff after the training, joints popping from exhaustion and overuse that he can’t help but think he’s really getting old. Yet funnily enough, a jolly voice from a certain scientist echoes in his mind.
“Come on, thirty-four isn’t old.” Mitya said to him one time, shaking his head disapprovingly. “You’re literally in your prime, Sarge. And I think that’s so hot of you.”
Valeriy couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at his words. “You think I’m hot, Dmitry?” He asked, raising an amused eyebrow, teasing.
“Ugh, wipe that smug smirk from your face.” Mitya’s cheeks were tinted red as he turned his head away from the taller male, feeling embarrassed.
Valeriy just laughed, finding the scientist absolutely adorable.
Speaking of Mitya, he needs to go back to the laboratory to check on the scientist since the training is finished anyway. Valeriy thinks he’s going to find the smaller male slumped down on his desk, complaining about how bored he is without him.
He quickly empties his bottle of water, throwing it into the trash as he makes his way out from the training grounds to Mitya’s laboratory. It’s almost time for lunch, given from the position of the sun, and Valeriy thinks to invite Mitya out to eat at his favorite restaurant in Snezhnograd.
He gives a polite nod to the people he passes by as he walks along the Armory Palace. Everyone, especially the scientists from the Energy Commission including Mitya, is still busy with the project assigned to them by The Tsaritsa. It’s proving to be a difficult project, as Mitya said to him, since the creation of the device isn’t something that can be perfected in the first try and also with the arbitrary behaviors of domains and rifts.
Valeriy fastens his pace when he notices he’s nearing the third floor–towards Mitya’s laboratory. The door is completely shut, but Valeriy cannot help but feel a bit uneasy with how quiet it is inside. Awfully quiet.
As a Sentinel, they are given enhanced senses in order to help them battle the monsters and even help them in their day to day living.
So when Valeriy didn’t hear the sound of pen scratching against paper, Mitya’s rhythmic and controlled breathing whenever he’s focused, he immediately flings the door open. “Mitya!”
Only to be greeted with an empty room.
Valeriy quickly assesses the situation and checks for any marks that the scientist left behind him. It’s not new to Valeriy that Mitya sneaks out of the Armory Palace whenever he wants to, but the scientist would usually leave some of his things with him whenever he does. This time, however, Valeriy notices that the notebook and pen that Mitya uses for his observations are nowhere to be seen, same as his purple coat.
Just as he is scanning the sealed window, thinking that Mitya might have gone out by that, he hears a voice call him. “Sir Valeriy? Is everything alright?”
He turns his head towards the door and sees one of the scientists from the Energy Commission, Rakitina, he thinks is her name, standing outside of Mitya’s laboratory. “Yes, everything is quite alright,” He replies a bit stiffly. He makes his way to the door, “Do you need something?”
“Oh, right!” She says, eyes lighting up as she remembers what she actually came to Valeriy for. “I heard from one of the soldiers that the dungeon in Flamefeather Valley opened. I was wondering if maybe some of the scientists from the Energy Commission can come along to the culling mission this week?”
Right. Valeriy remembers the dungeon re-opened once again. He gives her a nod, instructing her to list all of the names of the ones coming along. As Valeriy watches her write, something suddenly clicked inside his head. Mitya probably has heard of the dungeon re-opening a while ago.
He mutters a curse under his breath, irritation bubbling up. Of course Mitya would go to a dungeon that re-opened, despite him telling the scientist not to do raids alone, especially not without him. It’s his duty to protect their S+ Guide, and with Mitya constantly sneaking off and escaping him, he doesn’t know what he’ll do if something goes wrong.
Valeriy makes his way down the first floor, his long legs taking him quickly to the entrance. The soldiers seem to notice his agitation, immediately steering out of his way as he looks for any trails that Mitya left behind.
He gathers enough of his electro energy and activates his enhanced vision. He immediately sees Mitya’s electro energy from the side of the building, its energy trailing towards the nearest train station.
Clicking his tongue, he makes his way back to where his own office is located on the first floor and grabs the teleportation scroll hidden in one of the shelves inside. He wouldn’t usually use a teleportation scroll to travel since its side effects are quite bad on him due to his motion sickness, opting to travel by train and land.
However, since this is an urgent matter, he needs to make use of the needed equipment just to get Mitya back as quickly as he could. Who knows what could be happening to his Guide?
Valeriy summons the pop-up box, looking for the information of the dungeon.
Dungeon Name: Flamefeather Valley Dungeon
Classification: S-Class
Status: Needs culling
Current master: None
Additional data: Mutated A+ to S rank monsters spawning. Needs culling to maintain the dungeon.
Opening the scroll, he scribbles down the train station near the Flamefeather Valley, before imbuing the paper with his electro. The paper lights up, engulfing Valeriy with its bright light as he is teleported to Rankova Zorya.
He arrives at the train station soon enough, his vision slightly spinning and feeling a bit nauseous. But he has to endure it, if he wants to get Mitya back quickly.
The paper in his hand is torn to two pieces, now completely useless.
He leans his back against a tree trunk for a while, closing his eyes to catch his breath. This damned motion sickness. This is why I hate teleporting. It’s a miracle his motion sickness isn’t triggered whenever he rides the train, but for some reason, he always gets it when using a teleportation scroll.
He groans, placing a hand on his forehead, “The things I do for you, Mitya.”
Once he stabilizes himself, finally getting rid of his dizziness, he starts making his way down to where the dungeon gate is opened. With his enhanced vision still activated, he sees a trail of electro particles on the same path he’s currently walking, confirming that Mitya was here earlier. He knows that Mitya left them on purpose, allowing Valeriy to find them quickly.
Valeriy knows that if Mitya really wants to escape him, he’s smart enough not to leave any trails behind.
He follows the trail of electro particles, passing by the frozen lake and the orange grass field along the way. There aren’t enemies around despite the dungeon being opened, which he is thankful for, since he got to save his energy for when he actually enters the dungeon.
The entrance of the dungeon greets him as soon as he arrives, the cosmic colored gate standing in the middle of an empty and dilapidated port. He feels the warm air coming out of the dungeon, a stark contrast to the snow-covered area surrounding him. Valeriy cautiously approaches the gate, bringing his hand forward first.
He watches as his hand disappears into the gate, confirming that the gate is still open from outside. He takes a deep breath, stepping forward.
Then, he enters.
───⟢⊱ ۫ ׅ ♡
“Agh!”
A loud groan slips from Mitya’s lips as his back hits against one of the rocks, dodging the abyssal monster’s swing. Few smaller rocks fall on the ground, covering him in dust upon the impact. Mitya wipes the dirt staining his cheek, his eyes training forward to look at the mutated abyssal creature just a few distance away from him.
His simple plan of exploring the dungeon and collecting specimen samples had gone awry the moment he stepped inside the dungeon. The nervousness he felt earlier was one of the signs, and Mitya can’t help but curse at himself for not listening to his instincts.
The dungeon closed its way out, trapping Mitya inside with some invisible barrier blocking the gate. No matter how hard he banged against it, even using his electro powers to create a beam, not even a dent was created–the invisible barrier completely intact.
The pop-up box appeared in front of him earlier, displaying the current information of the dungeon to him. “S-Class dungeon? Really?!” Mitya cried, stomping his foot to the ground out of frustration. Of all dungeons he could enter, it really just has to be one of the top ranked. Mitya knew that once Valeriy found out about it, he’s gonna get grilled for hours about entering a dungeon alone.
Mitya shuddered at the thought.
His scarf knocked its ends on his head, which wasn’t exactly painful since it’s made of fabric, but Mitya couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “I know, I know. I should’ve checked the dungeon classification earlier,” he says to his scarf, who’s wiggling its pointer finger at him. Mitya grabbed his scarf in his hands, stopping the object from its actions. “You don’t have to rub it in my face, okay? I know I’m gonna get scolded by Valeriy later.”
Just then, a familiar sounding shriek echoed around the dungeon, so loud that it resulted in the ground that Mitya was currently standing on to shake a little.
Mitya winced, covering his ears with his palms, his own scarf even placed itself on top of his hand. But the shriek was still so loud. Only if Valeriy was here, he could at least put up some barrier around himself.
The shrieking sound then stopped and Mitya saw a huge creature flying down his direction. He then jumped away, dodging the creature. As he drew his head up, his eyes widened upon seeing a familiar creature in front of him.
It’s the same as the Immortal Construct they fought during his first expedition, only that the creature’s figure is larger, its feathered wings covered in both cryo and pyro shields.
To say that Mitya was flabbergasted was an understatement. How could an abyssal creature be wielding two elements like some awakened Sentinel? It’s only possible if it's…
“It’s mutated,” he muttered. He waved his hand in the air, opening the pop-up box in front of him. The words “S-Class” and “Immortal Construct” were the only thing he registered from the information in front of him before he found himself fighting against it.
Mitya feels he’s been fighting the creature for ages now. His legs feel sore from dodging the dangerous swings and stomps the creature is doing, blocking its fire balls with his electro barrier.
He grunts as he hides behind his barrier, hearing it make some small cracking sound from the impact blast coming from the abyssal creature. If only he could retreat right now, but with the gate sealed closed, he just decides to fight it in hopes his powers are enough to defeat this creature. He could use some of its body parts as specimen samples anyway.
His body is screaming at him due to exhaustion already, wondering when this fight will end. Despite being an S+ Guide, he finds that the monster is way too strong for him as he’s not usually a combat type awakener.
Mitya purses his lips into a thin line, drawing out an electro orb from his palm and throwing it on top of the abyssal creature. The electro orb sends a beam downwards, scratching the shield of the creature.
He could really use Valeriy’s barriers right now, he thinks with a huff.
As if a god heard and granted his wish, he hears a familiar deep voice calling out his name. “Mitya!”
The scientist whips his head to where the voice is coming from, seeing Valeriy’s tall figure running to his direction with his greatsword in hand. “Sarge…” Mitya breathes out, his mind completely focusing on Valeriy that he almost forgot about the huge abyssal monster right in front of him.
“Look out!”
There's a flash of purple. Only then Mitya recollects himself, facing forward again as he is inside the electro barrier that Valeriy made. He sees Valeriy approach his direction, although his eyes are trained to the monster in front of him, his expression dark as he clutches his shield on one hand and his heavy greatsword on the other.
He swings the greatsword on his shoulder as though it weighs nothing. He stops beside him. “Mitya, give me a boost. We’re taking this monster down.” Mitya only nods, activating his powers once again, letting his amplification abilities run freely towards Valeriy.
The electro barrier disappears, changing it into a smaller electro shield that covers Mitya’s every move. How Valeriy did it, he doesn’t have time to think as the Sentinel quickly engages in battle, followed by Mitya.
Valeriy swings his weapon towards the creature, almost removing half of its shield. The creature shrieks, although this time it doesn’t hurt his ears due to the shield protecting him. They coordinated their attacks efficiently—Valeriy activates his shield that reflects the monster attack while Mitya provides him a huge damage boost.
With Valeriy around, the battle is fiercer and quicker than Mitya fighting alone. The Sentinel makes use of his ability to take down the monster, swinging his huge greatsword imbued with electro energy while also being boosted by Mitya.
Mitya feels exhaustion slowly creeping up his body, but the creature is starting to move sluggishly, having its elemental shield torn down by both of their electro elements, that he gathers up enough elemental energy to conjure up a huge spear made out of electro and throws it towards the creature’s direction, piercing it directly onto its weak spot.
Mitya drops down to his knees the same time the creature drops from his spear, its body slowly disintegrating into dust.
“I’m tired,” Mitya groans, his body going limp. But then the ground—no, the entire dungeon starts to shake, rocks falling down the ground.
Before Mitya can even react, he feels a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist and under his legs, lifting him up with ease. As the dungeon starts to collapse, Valeriy quickly runs to where the gate is located, now unsealed, with Mitya in his arms.
Mitya tries to amplify the taller male, letting his energy flow towards the other, his hand on Valeriy’s chest. It seems to work as Valeriy accelerates his speed that they’re almost like lightning, escaping the ruined dungeon.
Soon, they finally make it out of the dungeon, the cosmic gate closing behind them. With a sigh, Valeriy carefully puts the Guide down, his hands lingering onto Mitya’s body just in case.
Mitya bites his lower lip, glancing at Valeriy. “Sarge, I didn’t know that the dungeon was an S-Class one...”
Valeriy lets out a frustrated noise, bringing a hand to his face. “I told you not to enter dungeons alone, especially high ranking ones. What would happen if I wasn’t there? You could’ve died.”
“Hey, it wasn’t that bad.” Mitya crosses his arms in front of his chest in defense. “Just because I’m a Guide, doesn’t mean I can’t fight you know.”
“You’re injured, Dmitry!” Valeriy immediately pauses with the way Mitya looks startled by calling him once again with his full name. His tensed shoulder drops, lilac eyes averting and glancing to the floor.
“I’m your bodyguard, Mitya. It’s my duty to protect you, as both your Sentinel and your guard.” Somehow, his words seem to displease Mitya, with the way his face drops, eyebrows furrowing deeply and lips turning downward.
He places both of his hands on his hips, frowning at Valeriy. “There you go again with that duty shit,” he curses, “Sarge, do you even care about me? Or do you just see me as a nuisance that interrupts your work flow? It must have been frustrating that you’re assigned to a mad scientist, huh?”
Valeriy frowns, although he’s trying to compose himself. “That’s not what I meant.” He says, and his composure seems to frustrate Mitya further, ruffling his already messy hair with his hand.
The tension between them is high, the air feels stiff and cold. Mitya’s scowling at the ground, his shoulders tensed once again. The flow of both of their energies are in disarray, unstable.
“You must think I’m a big nuisance in your life,” Mitya mumbles, his voice soft, and it’s filled with frustration and sadness.
Valeriy is about to grab the scientist’s hand with his own, to reassure him that he isn’t a nuisance, far from it, and that he’s one of the best things to happen in his life. He wants to see Mitya smile again.
Only for him to stop, his body freezing as an ominous feeling takes over him.
“Sarge?” He hears Mitya call him.
But his eyes are trained behind the scientist—to the way a spatial tear suddenly appears just in front of him; purple smoke seeps through the small opening before it gradually opens, revealing a space that Valeriy has only read in books and seen in pictures.
A rift gate has opened.
No. No way. They have to escape this place fast.
But before Valeriy could even grab Mitya’s hand, he sees a vine come out of the rift, wrapping itself around the scientist’s neck. Mitya gasps harshly, his hands flying around his neck as he clutches the thing that wraps around him. “Wha—“
A second too slow, and Mitya is thrown inside the rift.
“MITYA!”