Silver Eyes

A/N - I am SO SORRY!! I truly did not mean to be take this long. There are three reasons - one I was doing a Secret Santa exchange - the story is posted if you're interested. Then I had my parents staying with me over the holidays, and every time I sat down I'd get about two sentences written before someone would come in and distract me. Third is the worst reason - I've been fairly addicted to Crisis Core the last few weeks, and got another story idea, this time for a fanfic. Whoops. But I hope you enjoy, and please read the A/N at the end for two important questions! Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate, and Happy New Year!
smint45 - Hope you are still reading :) And that this chapter was worth the wait!
madamebutterly1983 - thank you for your king review! I am happy that I've made it interesting for you. And thank you for actually writing the review which gave me the kick in the ass to get the rest of the chapter written ;)
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Neither man spoke for a few minutes after Alaex had left.

“I…suppose that went better than expected?”

D’rian nodded. “He’s an odd one, that’s for sure. But regardless of his methods, he seems to know what he’s doing. I’d love to know who he really is. He’s covered in illusions.”

“Smart move though, posing as a lord; no one pays them much attention. I normally wouldn’t trust someone whose real face I couldn’t see, but I suppose I need to make another exception.”

The wizard grinned, used to jokes about his secrets at this point, and went to lay Naia down in the bedroom he had chosen for himself. She had fallen asleep halfway through the tour after they had run into another group of children. They had run around for a bit playing games while the grownups talked, and she was still worn out. Once she woke up they’d take her back down to where there was a makeshift ‘day-care’ for the children in the caves. The base wasn’t the best place to try to raise children, but there were those who had no choice but to bring their children with them. Hopefully being around kids her age would get her talking again. She had said a few words here and there after her initial outburst, but she was still silent far too much. They had stopped talking about finding her a surrogate family; with the abundance of nonhumans here though it was possible there would be a family willing to take her in. But both were a bit reluctant to give her up at this point. Asahi in particular had grown attached to the little kitsune, and she in return called him ‘Daddy’ while D’rian was called ‘Uncle Rian’. D’rian felt a bit put out that he got relegated to uncle, but wasn’t going to put up a fuss about it. It was too important that she felt safe. So the two men would continue to act as her guardians unless a suitable couple wanted to officially adopt her.
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The first few days were very strange, but with the help of the people assigned to guide them around, it was actually rather nice living in the base. They found that there was an impressive amount of people living in the caves, and several dozen ‘field agents’ who would wander the country listening for rumours of nonhumans and actions against them. There were also retrievers, who would, as the name implied, go and help the nonhumans that the other agents found, whether that was to get them to the base or out of the country. Asahi was recruited to be a field agent while D’rian would work as a retriever. His ability to cast illusions would be invaluable to helping people escape. It was determined that Asahi would go with Alaex to the capital. With his knowledge of politics, the castle, and the people there, he would make a perfect partner for Alaex, even if he would need an illusion. Unfortunately, the two were only in the caves for a few days before Alaex and Asahi were on their way back to the capital. The Knight was actually excited to go back; he was curious to see whether or not their disappearance had been noted, and who the group’s contact was. It would be interesting if it was someone he knew. Plus, he could admit to himself privately that he missed the castle, missed living in a city.

On the other hand, D’rian would be staying behind; he wouldn’t be sent out until there was a call for it, and that wouldn’t be until he knew the hiding places and escape routes for the area he was assigned for. As a precaution, each retriever was only given a specific area; that way even if they betrayed the group or were caught, they could only give so much away. It sounded cold, but both men could understand the practicality of it. Kelian freely admitted it was probably unnecessary, as the retrievers were all out of necessity nonhuman. So for the next few weeks the Fae studied the maps Kel gave him and hoped fervently that he didn’t end up getting himself lost. While he had spent large chunks of his life travelling, it was always aimless wandering; he had never had a specific destination in mind unless he was travelling with someone. As such, he had no idea if he had a good sense of direction or not. He felt a lot better once he learned the Were would be joining him on his first few trips out. Another precaution, but the wizard didn’t feel the least bit insulted. In addition to the maps, he also learned about the different customs and traditions in the areas he would go through, and different stories to explain his presence there.

His day to day life had also improved drastically from any he had known before. Even though he had loved his Gram and Gramps, and been relatively content with the Duke’s household, there was always the underlying fear of discovery. Now, instead of having to hide behind his robes, he was able to wear regular clothing, and had spent the better half of the first day being fitted by the tailors. They, in turn, loved having him as with his colouring and slim form nearly everything looked good on him. He found he liked blue especially, any shade from the palest sky blue to navy. When he had walked back to their shared quarters, Asahi had whistled appreciatively and assured his friend that had he been so inclined, he would have jumped the Fae the second he walked in the door. The wizard had blushed at the lewd comment, but appreciated the compliment. The best part was when he was scrutinized by Kel and several of the other retrievers who decided that with the right colour clothing he could go without the robes. If he wore bright enough blues or greens it would make his eyes look eyes look like they only had a silver sheen to them, which would be good enough when he was just passing through towns.

With the robe went the unapproachable aura, and now when he wandered the tunnels, he would smile and greet the people he saw, and be greeted in return. D’rian felt like a completely new person and he loved it. He had never enjoyed his self-imposed isolation, and was thrilled at the chance to make friends and possibly even a family. He was still quiet, and usually only talked when spoken to, it was practically habit after so long. But he had still made a few tentative friends among the other ‘parents’ – he had learned that unfortunately most of the other children in the base were also orphans, although a good majority at least had family to watch them. Naia was the only one with an adoptive human father, however, which made her quite the popular girl. The one other girl that had taken to her like a younger sister had become fast friends with had her brother looking after her, and it was that brother that D’rian was slowly become good friends with as well. His name was Valan, and he was one of the water Fae who worked in the caves providing water to the kitchens. He was nearly as quiet as D’rian himself, but only because of the fact that unless he had something important to say, he preferred to stay silent. He was of slighter build than D’rian, with short cropped platinum blond hair, and deep blue eyes. The blue extended to tint both his hair and lightly tanned skin, making his heritage no secret.

Valan was, to D’rian’s surprise, slightly older than the wizard, although he looked no older than his early twenties, he was in fact nearly thirty. His sister, a late age surprise birth, had been entrusted to him when they found out their secret had been compromised. The town they had come from had known their secret and gladly sheltered them, but word had leaked out somehow and the parents knew they were too old to make any long journeys without endangering the younger. Their parents had led the army away from the direction the two had fled in, offering themselves up as a sacrifice to give their children a chance to escape. It had been pure luck that one of Kel’s groups had stumbled upon the two and led them back to the base. Paisha had only been two at the time, so she didn’t even remember her parents, which Valan blamed himself for, but Kel had told him, and D’rian agreed, that if they had waited to take any pictures, it was likely they would have been found and killed as well. The girl was nine now, and understood what their parents had done for them, and constantly bugged her older brother for stories.

It made D’rian depressed that he couldn’t even remember his parents; he was positive that it had been his father in his earliest memories, but even those were fading over time. All he could clearly remember is they shared the same silver eyes, which as he had learned only meant his father was a dark Fae as well. But he enjoyed listening to the stories that Valan told, with both his own sister and Naia listening eagerly. Naia would occasionally tell her own stories in her stumbling child’s dialect, which would have both men smothering grins.

Now the only thing he was worried about was if Valan was interested in men. If D’rian had to guess, he would say yes, but at the same time, the other Fae also hadn’t said or done anything that would make him confident in his assumption, and just as he hadn’t wanted to risk his friendship with Asahi, he was nervous about risking it with Valan as well. With Asahi leaving back to the capital, and Kel busy with running the base, he found himself spending a lot of time with the blond. While he couldn’t deny being attracted to the other Fae, like he had been attracted to the Knight, it didn’t cause the same feelings as what he felt around Kelian. He had debated returning the Were’s flirtations numerous times, but he had learned that the leader was unabashedly bi, and would sleep with anything pretty enough to catch his eye. D’rian didn’t particularly feel like being just a notch on the Gryfon’s belt, at least until his crush had abated somewhat and he didn’t have to work with the man so closely. He was free to pursue a real relationship, and he wasn’t ready to settle for a fling yet. And although Valan didn’t inspire the same depth of feeling as Kel, he was a good man, and if he was so inclined, could make for a good partner. So in the meantime, D’rian would continue to try and figure out where his interests lay and ignore the fluttery feeling he got whenever he saw the winged man.
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Nearly two months passed before D’rian was called to go anywhere. Asahi had not returned, so Valan had agreed to watch Naia until one or the other came back. Paisha was thrilled to have her ‘little sister’ with her, and he knew the kitsune child would be in good hands. To say the Fae was nervous would be an understatement. He would be going out on a life or death mission, without his robes to hide him, with a man whom he was unhealthily attracted to. He packed plenty of outfits, all in a deep, bright blue, both to disguise his eyes and out of a newfound care for his appearance, especially in light of who his companion would be. It amused him to realize that while he didn’t need to bring any of his ‘wizard’ trappings or rations, he still had just as much packed as his original journey. He made his way to the entrance, where Kelian, Valan and Paisha were waiting; the girl yawning widely, blue eyes sleepy. Naia, however, was wide awake with the excitement of saying with them and ran over immediately to hug her friend.

“Thank you again for watching her, Val. I hope she won’t cause any problems for you.”

The water Fae smiled fondly down at the two girls. “Not at all; I’m glad to do it. Any time you two are out
I’d be happy to watch her. She’s an absolute doll.”

D’rian gave Naia one last hug and went to shake Val’s hand. The other appeared to consider him a moment, then grabbed his hand, yanking him forward. Before the wizard could think to react, Valan’s other arm had snaked around his waist and he was being kissed rather passionately by the other man. With his small gasp of shock, he felt the other man’s tongue slip inside, and stroke along his. He moaned involuntarily, and started to kiss back when he felt Val pull away. He grinned sheepishly, a small blush tinting his cheeks bluer.

“Um...have a good trip?” D’rian couldn’t help grinning back, still a little shocked by the turn of events. In a slight daze, he turned to follow the Were out of the caves.
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End A/N - okay, two questions - do you want the next chapter to focus on Asahi and Alaex or D'rian and Kel?
Secondly, what pairings would you prefer to see? I know who I want to pair up, but I am interested in knowing what everyone thinks? I know I've thrown a few new characters in the last few chapters :)