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Xisuma winces, hearing the armor clank against the wood floor for the umpteenth time in the last hour. The two men were currently inside Wels' castle, seeing as the throne room was decidedly the best (and biggest) place to work in.
He can't really say he's contributing all that much though, for he's remained mostly stationary for the better part of the hour they've been here. Xisuma watches the determined knight wobble back up to his feet again, gauntlets clanging against the sword in his hand.
The admin offers the other man an encouraging smile when he looks over. The poor thing looks exhausted.. Xisuma feels the itch growing inside himself. The awful urge to take Wels away. Keep him cooped up in his temple until he is properly tended to. He tilts his head and notices the lack of much mass on the knight. Even through all that armor, he could tell when his hermits weren't eating correctly. He could fix that. Should fix that.
His gloved fingers dig harshly into his thigh plates. The motion unfortunately doesn't do much for grounding. He can only watch as Wels slips up again.
Said man let's out a frustrated groan, practically dropping his sword to the floor. Those hands come up to his face and drag down. Xisuma struggles to remain still. Wels dips down to pick back up his weapon, swinging it to the left and right quickly. He huffs but is ultimately happier with how its performing now.
His happiness unfortunately doesn't last long. When he thrusted forward to hit his target, the damn thing annoyingly leaned backward before he could even impale it like he wanted to. He swings his sword over to the left and swipes at it like that instead. It results in the blade getting wedged into the thick wood and hay-woven material, rendering it stuck.
The man grabs onto the handle and tugs and pulls. It barely budges from its position. He stares at it helplessly before finally turning around to his admin. His sweet, and ever so patient admin who had offered to watch him train. Not whatever that was.
When he looks up though, he can see that Xisuma had apparently already left? He was that bored? The knight stands there motionlessly, feeling ashamed that he couldn't even do something as easy as impaling. And on top of that, he had disappointed Xisuma enough to make him leave. He's gone now, and it is his fault.
Just as he chooses to sulk, the admin flies back in through the castle doors. He watches the other land near where he was sitting before, now adorned with a fuller inventory from what Wels can see. The admin walks over to him hastily, his steps bigger in order to get to him faster.
His world shifts and compresses when the man embraces him in an unexpected bear hug. It squeezes the life out of him. Any stress that he had from his training session is quite literally forced from his body.
Xisuma hugs his hermit as closely as possible, even giving him a bit of a spin before he sets him back on his own feet. He doesn't miss the wobble, or the labored breath. Instead the caring man pulls out a health potion from his inventory, reaching out for Wels' hands.
He makes sure to wrap the other's fingers around the glass, patting the slightly shaky fingers with his palm.
"Xisuma?" Calls the knight, looking down at the bottle now lovingly in place and secure in his hands. "Why uh.. Do I need this? I'm not hurt." He asks, chuckling awkwardly.
The admin's warm smile can be seen through his visor, and it startles the butterfly in Wels' stomach. The timid insect flutters around, causing a ruckus. "You're shaking. And you've been practicing for a while. Don't you think it's maybe time for a break, my friend?" Xisuma explains, though it only further complicates the situation in Wels' stomach.
"No? X, I've barely been here for an hour." He stares at the other with furrowed brows.
"Ah, but see I know you've also been here this morning too. You've been training all day, actually." He replies, making sure Wels doesn't accidentally drop the potion. The smoothe glass is slipping still, so he reaches out to join their hands together before speaking again, "When's the last time you took a break, my knight?"
The silence that follows is telling enough. Xisuma shakes his head and pats the hand closest to him. Wels sputters when the other starts to use some force to push the bottle toward his stomach. The liquid sloshes up against the side of the glass when it moves, sparkling under the light of the lanterns. "It's really not necessary.. I'm fine." He speaks, growing a bit nervous at the look in his admin's eyes.
Everyone on the server knows that look. The way Xisuma's eyes darken ever so slightly, and his fingers twitch, desperate to grab and keep. It would have been welcome towards any other hermit. Literally anyone else. Wels is not one of the hermits that like to give in so easily. Xisuma is entirely aware of this fact and is willing to play dirty.
"Just a few sips then? Please?"
Wels bites the inside of his cheek whilst he watches the man plead with him. It's not fair that the other has such an affect on him. It shouldn't be. It's not. The knight struggles to even look away from Xisuma. The glass bottle in his hands is cool. It's been miserably warm inside the castle, and he can only imagine how sweetly refreshing the pot would be. He blows out a sigh, looking back down to the health potion, "Yeah, sure, 'Suma.."
The defeat on Wels' face is exactly what Xisuma is looking for. He gently pat-pats the knight's hands again before carefully uncorking the bottle for him.
Wels lifts the potion up to his lips and greedily drinks down the liquid. He lowers it when it's about halfway full, but a hand stops him. "You can drink a little more, can't you?" Asks his wonderful, caring admin. So loving towards his hermits. To him. How could he say no? The bottle is upturned, swallowed down, and throughly drank until the last drop is rolling onto his tongue.
The effects of the potion are instant. Any tension in his shoulders eases away along with the scrapes and scratches he picked up throughout the day. Xisuma graciously takes hold of him when he begins to teeter. The act alone jostles that pesky butterfly. It causes him to shudder in the other's arms. The idea of being loved so deeply is foreign. It always will be to him.
Xisuma is of course the one to move them, guiding him to lean against him. "Can you walk, Wels?" He asks, taking away the empty bottle from the knight's hands and setting it aside in his inventory. He watches him respond in a nod. The admin is quick to walk the wobbly man out of the castle.
The safety of the walls are soon left behind, causing the knight to push closer into Xisuma. Not that he minds. He presses a kiss to Wels' cheek to show him just how much he appreciates the closeness. His admin loves him. Wels feels drunk on the honey-sweet love that seems to practically radiate off of the other. He smiles, how lucky he is.
Tender affection is folded onto him as he's led past Hypno's base and closer to the temple just on the other side of the river. The two soon step out into Xisuma and Ren's joined piece of custom biome.
Wels can't help the jealousy that swallows up the fluttering bug in his gut. His grip on Xisuma's hand tightens momentarily which causes his admin to look over at him. "Everything okay?" He asks, and Wels nearly trips from how kind he sounds.
"Of course - I mean, always. Uhm. Yeah, all good." Wow, great going, Wels, that was so convincing.. The knight awkwardly shifts in place, bidding himself to push down whatever silly thought plagued his mind. Xisuma apparently didn't appreciate his abrupt lie. A tug on his arm forces him infront of the armored man. He can very clearly see the way Xisuma's brows are furrowed, and if he could see his mouth he would probably be frowning at him.
His admin isn't happy anymore, and it's his fault. All feelings sank to his stomach. Xisuma's gaze is firm and insistent, like he is expecting Wels to speak or say something. But he can't. He can't - the words are stuck like he'd just eaten thick peanut butter and now all he can do is silently beg for the sweet relief of milk.
The man above him sighs, and it's an awful, horribly distressing sound to hear. "You know you can tell me anything, right? Don't hide things from me, Wels." His admin says, a weary expression in his features.
"I'm not - " He starts.
"You are." The other ends.
Xisuma is a patient man, but when his hermits deliberately keep things from him, he isn't so kind. The knight is stressed, that much he can tell. He decides to help him out, grabbing both of his wrists in one hand so that he could focus on him instead of those mangled nail beds. The bitten and picked at things are so displeasing to look at, and it only encourages Wels' self destructive behavior further. He'll have to work on that.
The knight is still hesitating to respond to him, struggling to speak when it's so easy to. Xisuma can't help but pity his hermit. He leans forward, pressing a loving kiss to an exposed cheek. The other mumbles something incoherent, and it's exactly what he hoped for. After a few more quiet moments, he speaks finally, "X, I- uhm.. Listen, it's really nothing. Stupid actually, it's silly." Xisuma lifts a brow, unimpressed with his continued lies. Really, how could he had let this get so out of hand?
Xisuma swiftly starts walking again, resulting in Wels just barely avoiding tripping. Luckily he is there for him, and always will be.
The two make it up those old temple stairs, the entrance providing the admin with a sense of peace. Knowing that his precious knight won't be leaving him anytime soon.
He'll teach Wels love, and he won't let him go until he understands that he's the provider. That he's admin, and that he will always love his hermits.
♡