Never Close Our Eyes

1

"Naive, holding onto a promise like that." Ban sat beside her, taking a swig from his mug of ale.

"Lord Ban, how can you say - ?!"

"He promised all of us," he cut her off. "He promised us that you and we were his priorities, that he'd follow us no matter the circumstances. His lover wasn't the center of the world, and his lover knew that. So why did this happen..."

"Sir [First Name] had a...lover?" Elizabeth seemed completely mystified by this new revelation and King floated over, hugging a green pillow to his chest.

"Huh? He never told you?" he asked, surprised. "Well, he did always try to keep it a secret, but you'd think he'd at least tell you."

"She was a brat, what if she told one of the brass?" Ban pointed out and the Fairy King frowned but said nothing. "Either way, if we didn't get his knife, Hendrickson at least had the decency to bury him with it."

The princess gazed at the necklace for a moment longer before looking up to Meliodas again. "Lord Meliodas, can I...? Keep this? Once we stop the Holy Knights, I'd like to leave this at his grave..."

Everyone was silent before they all smiled.

"Of course."

--

Gazing at the inside of the room, [First Name] stared blanking at the familiar bed. Closing the door behind him, his armor clanked softly as he made his way across the chamber, kneeling beside the bed and reached forward to touch one of the stuffed animals before flinching back upon hearing someone else enter the room. Sighing, he stood and looked over his shoulder, eyes landing on the newcomers.

"Gilthunder, Howzer," he greeted calmly. "How can I help you? Last I heard, you were dispatched on a mission."

"Yes, but I heard you were here again and decided to see for myself," the pinkette replied with equal serenity, Howzer only rubbing the back of his own head with an easygoing grin.

"I see," [First Name] smiled and chuckled in amusement, turning to face them completely and held out his arms. "As you can see, here I am. Is there anything else you two gentlemen wanted to know?"

"Your birthday is in a few days, but we won't be here, unfortunately. So we came to give you something in advance," he stepped forth and held something up. [First Name] looked a little shocked before laughing lightly and holding out his hand for Gilthunder to drop the gift into his palm. Holding it close, a rare tender expression crossed the Holy Knight's face, making a little pride swell up in the pink-haired Knight's chest.

"Did you two get this for me?" The gentle air [First Name] was suddenly surrounded by was so foreign to Howzer, the man awkwardly scratched his cheek and nodded, not being able to bring himself to quite look at the other man. "Thank you, I'll make sure to always have it."

Gilthunder watched [First Name] take off his gauntlet, showing his bare hand. The nails were cleanly and recently cut, though the bones were a little more apparent than he would have liked. With great care, he slipped the ring onto his middle finger. Admiring the gold ornament for a moment he took a deep breath, pulling his gauntlet back on.

"You didn't have to, I haven't been able to do anything for your birthdays for years," [First Name]'s voice was lightly weight down by guilt.

"No," Howzer grinned, putting his hands on his hips. "You've had your hands full, don't worry about it! Just worry about your work, we understand!"