Forty Years of This [Monster Hunter World]

Chapter 17

His beard grew in more slowly than he expected. Not that it grew in slowly, but the Commander had expected it to grow like a wild bush given how quickly his stubble came in shortly after shaving it in the morning, but it didn't drop past his jaw and become the wild, tangled mess like he'd thought it would. Of course, part of it was the Quartermaster's offer to help shape it.

The Commander's beard was well trimmed and silky smooth. He kept it trimmed so that it wouldn't hang like a beast clinging to his face, and while he liked the way it looked, he mostly just liked having the Quartermaster's hands on him and all the attention that came with it. Say what they may about sharing a bed, having the man with a blade to his throat, all the trust in the world in his skill and care, and the simple closeness was the Commander's most cherished form of physical intimacy. Though the Quartermaster did not let the Commander attempt to shape his facial hair, he did let the Commander wash his hair when they bathed together.

A year and a half had passed since the Admiral returned home, and the Commander was still shaky on his leg, but the Second Fleet had settled in smoothly, and despite the rocky start, everything seemed to be going well. He had a partner (a thought that made him smile), Astera was becoming more of a village than an outpost (a thought that filled him with pride), the members of the fleets got along (for the most part), no one had died, and he'd been able to put out the various fires as they came up. For the most part.

That morning after the Quartermaster had trimmed his beard and the two began their quiet breakfast, the Seeker stepped in and stood at the side of the table. The Quartermaster looked almost offended at the sudden guest.

"Where have you been, young man?" The Commander pushed his not yet touched breakfast in front of the Wyverian man before standing to get a new portion. "Your father and I have been very worried about you."

"Now is not the time for your humor, Commander." When Seeker glared, it was unmistakable. The Commander often thought that he and the Quartermaster were similar, but they were the same in the way that a stone wall and a glacier were the same: still, slow to change, and often unreadable to someone like him.

"Why are you here, Seeker?" The Commander stopped and leaned against the Quartermaster's chair. "You never do anything without a purpose."

"Because I am leaving."

"You're going home?" The Commander blinked in surprise. "I didn't expect that."

"I am not returning to the old world."

Fear flickered through the Commander's mind. Fear that this was a cry for help that he'd missed in their years together, and though he could not read the Seeker, the Seeker could read him and raised a hand as if to stop the Commander before he could start questioning him.

"This land is filled with strange energies. It is the same thing that you could never understand and never will understand that calls to me now. I am leaving Astera. The Commission moves too slowly. Too destructively."

"You're bailing on us?" The Commander's fear was swiftly replaced with disbelief and betrayal. "If you weren't so damned cryptic, then maybe we could make progress together, but instead you're running off into the woods alone? What good will that do? If you learn something, will you tell us, or do you plan on figuring it all out and keeping it to yourself, content in the knowledge you have?"

"We speak two different languages. It took you this long to learn his--" the Seeker gestured towards the Quartermaster. "I have no reason to believe you will ever learn mine. I am leaving, and unlike so many pressed into service, you cannot hold me here unwillingly." Something changed in the Seeker's typical stern glare. His expression became dangerous as though he were daring the Commander to try. "I am informing you as a courtesy."

The Commander stared with his mouth agape, but there was nothing he could do if he could not convince the Seeker with words. No one was truly trapped in Astera, and the Seeker was more than capable of surviving alone. There was no benefit in imprisoning him-- he didn't want to force him to stay. He didn't want to bind anyone to Astera. He wanted those he considered friends to stay of their own volition, but the only thing he could do was steel himself to the fact that his friends, comrades, and likely even his lover would leave the Commission and Astera at some point. He said nothing.

"Goodbye, Commander. Quartermaster." The Seeker nodded once at both of them before turning and walking out the door. The Commander moved to follow him, but the Quartermaster snatched him by the forearm.

"Don't." His grip was tight. "Let him go."

"How can you be so calm? He was your friend before he was mine. He barely even addressed you."

"We both know there is nothing we can do to change his mind. If you chase him, you'll only have bitter memories before he leaves. If you chase him, then you chase him off, and he may never come back. We are all moths to a flame in some form or fashion, ████, and whatever is calling him is more powerful than you or I."

"He barely even addressed you."

"Our relationship is based in silence. I'm surprised he even did that." The Quartermaster stood. "Promise me you won't chase him down."

"I couldn't catch him if I tried."

"Promise me."

The Commander huffed. "I promise."

"Good." The Quartermaster bent to peck his partner's cheek. "I'm going to give him a proper goodbye. It's bad luck not to see someone off from the gate when they leave. You don't have to come."

"No. I will. I don't want the last thing between us to be a fight. I'm pissed as hell, but if anything happened to that bastard, it'd never sit right with me."

The Commander jerked his head to the side to glare at the doorway, but no sooner had he crossed his arms did the Quartermaster take his face in his hand and run his thumb over the Commander's beard.

"You are a beautiful man. In heart and body."

They watched the Seeker leave from the Celestial Pursuit. His parting was a quiet affair. Few people knew he was leaving, and that was precisely how he wanted it to be. The brief moment where the hunter turned from the gate to look up at them was the silent goodbye the Quartermaster was looking for before the Seeker disappeared for the next three decades.