The sun was shining brightly from the cloudless sky above the castle. It was a beautiful, perfect summer day, perfect for sitting outside and relaxing. The dark-haired prince wasn't relaxing, however; he was determined to finish some paperwork. Besides, he'd never cared for the sun that much anyway.

He hated paperwork, really, and usually had someone else to do to necessary ones. But there were those papers that needed his signature, and he never wrote his name to anything that he hadn't checked yet. He also liked to pick the men for the White Wolf brigade himself, and so he was stuck going through papers.

The day was just too perfect to do this inside in his office, so instead, he was in the private garden of the L'Renouille castle. He wouldn't have minded doing so, but he hated to leave his dryad neglected. He'd been in a battle last week and gotten home just two days ago, and Kinnison seemed a bit depressed.

"And then Jillia starts to nag about that..." He mumbled to himself, picking up another folder from the wooden bench where he was sitting. He'd gotten a long lecture from his sister about the matter the night he got back. Jillia was the only person aside from a trusted servant that he allowed to see the boy, and Jillia noticed too easily if something was wrong.

"I start to nag about what?"

Luca lifted his gaze from the papers, only to find his sister standing next to the bench. She was wearing a bit more casual dress than usual and holding some gardening tool.

"Oh, you know. Never mind."

Jillia sat down next to him. "And are you sure you aren't sick or anything? This is completely new from you. You never work outside like this."

The prince concentrated back on his papers. "If you're really that interested, I'm doing what you told me to do."

"Is that so, Luca? You're working. I told you to spend more time with him."

"Oh, save your lecture. I am doing that." The dark-haired man pointed at some bushes across the garden path that went in front of them.

"He's there somewhere playing with the animals and looking at the plants."

As if to confirm this, a white, big dog emerged from the bush, stopping to nuzzle the prince's leg for a moment. Luca raised his eyebrow, almost smiling. He couldn't help but to like the creature nowadays - Shiro was his dryad's companion, and even if he was almost jealous for the attention the wolf-dog got from the boy, he couldn't deny the fact that Shiro's appearance reminded him of something. A white wolf.

Jillia chuckled a bit, leaning forward to pet the dog. "My, you're getting soft, brother. Since when did you just let him run around unguarded?"

He shrugged. "Hah. This is the private garden. No one ever comes here but some of the royalty, and you. No one's here. And Kinnison knows that he's only mine..."

"Not to mention that who'd like to come to the garden while you're here, looking so sullen even on a beautiful day like this. I'm surprised I didn't find you sitting here in full armor."

Luca glanced at his sister. He wasn't wearing armor today; he'd chosen something lighter. He preferred simple clothes, though - just a blue shirt, a color that looked quite good on him - and simple pants and boots. He didn't care what he looked like, but somewhere deep in his mind, he had to admit that he dressed more carefully nowadays. The fact that he was doing it because of someone annoyed him a bit.

"Oh, get a life. Have you ever worn an armor on a day like this? Hmmh. But as I said, no one's here."

Jillia got up, smiling as she heard Kinnison's voice nearby calling for the dog. Shiro glanced at both of them and vanished into the bushes.

"I wouldn't be so sure, dear brother. But forget about it - nothing you should worry about..."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

The princess turned, starting to walk away slowly. "No one you should be worried about. Surely no competition for you..."

"What? Jillia!" The dark-haired prince shook his head, frowning a bit. If there was someone in the garden while his dryad was running around, he wanted to know. He got up, but his sister was already out of sight, probably working with the flowers somewhere.

"Darn it..."

He sighed and sat back down. He glanced at the paper he'd been reading but suddenly didn't feel like working. He'd just decided to go find the boy when he heard the familiar voice calling him.

"Luca!"

The prince smiled as he saw Kinnison stepping out from between a couple of trees. "Luca! You're still here..."

"Yes, of course I'm still here, piglet. I was waiting for you to stop by. What is it?"

He felt better now that he knew where the boy was, and somehow quite pleased to see him smiling. Kinnison had that innocent smile on his face again.

"Luca? What are poems?"

"Huh? Poems? Oh, ask Jillia, she's there somewhere. She knows better then I do..."

Then the brown-eyed man stopped to think for a moment, looking at the boy curiously. Why was his dryad suddenly asking such questions?

Kinnison sat next to him, avoiding the papers, and pressed his head against the older man's arm.

"Poems sound pretty... I mean, well, the silver-haired man said they were poems."

The prince frowned. "Who? Where?"

The boy pointed at somewhere behind the trees and bushes. "There's a silver-haired man there. He was reading poems."

Luca was already getting up from the bench again, heading to the direction where the dark-haired boy had been pointing. Kinnison followed him, almost half-running to keep up with the prince's speed.

"Luca? Is something wrong?"

The man didn't answer, and he didn't stop before he got out of the shade of the trees to another path. He looked around, searching for this silver-haired man. Somehow, he could actually guess quite well who it was.

He walked along the path for a moment, then suddenly stopped.

Under a tree, on the soft grass off the path, was indeed a silver-haired man. He was sitting on his dark coat, leaning against the tree and writing something on a notebook. He was wearing a white shirt, with sleeves rolled up.

Next to him, on the grass, lay another man. His coat was also on the ground where he was lying, and he was wearing a sleeveless black shirt. His red hair reflected the colors of fire in the sunlight as he changed his position a bit. His head was resting comfortably on the older man's lap.

"Luca?" The boy's voice called, a bit worried.

"...That's the silver-haired man, I presume?"

Kinnison wrapped his hands around the prince's right arm, standing a bit out of sight. He was a bit shy with strangers, even if he'd already exchanged a few words with the silver-haired one.

The man sitting under the tree turned to look at them and nodded, putting his notebook down.

"Afternoon, Prince Luca. Excuse my impoliteness, but I can't really get up right now."

The dark-haired man couldn't keep the amused smile off his face anymore. He knew now what his sister had meant with the 'no competition' part.

The sight was indeed quite amusing. He almost couldn't believe his eyes, seeing the Flaming General lying there like a tame kitten. He was more used to seeing the redhead riding through the battlefield, sword in hand. But this... He'd never seen the ice-blue-eyed man smiling like that, either. Culgan always had a certain calm expression on his face, but at the moment, he was smiling so gently that it almost made the prince laugh.

"General Culgan. Never mind about getting up. What are you doing here?"

The tactician's eyes turned to the notebook for a moment. "Working, really, Sir. It's a beautiful day, so I'd hate to waste it inside those walls, but I can't neglect my duties. I'm making some troop arrangement notes..."

He moved his hand to his lap while talking, and stroked the younger man's hair. The redhead stirred a bit, nuzzling against the hand.

Luca glanced at the boy, who was partly hiding behind him, but looking at the two with innocent curiosity. He wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders, feeling jealous for no reason. He knew too well that General Culgan was no threat to him. Still, he'd seen and talked to the boy, so he wanted an explanation.

"My... young companion mentioned that you were reading poems."

The smile on the silver-haired man's face turned to an amused one. "Ah, yes. I think he was listening earlier, hiding behind the tree there. Then he finally got the courage to ask me what I was doing."

"And what were you doing?"

"I'm working, yes. I'm also entertaining Sir Seed... He apparently finds my poems... interesting."

The younger man changed position, turning around and lifting his face a bit. "Oh... Afternoon, Sir... Sorry for not getting up, but I'm too weak... I hate you, Culgan."

Culgan just smiled and continued stroking the red hair. The younger swordsman pressed his head back to the ice-blue-eyed man's lap, mumbling something that the prince couldn't hear. The older man leaned to whisper something to his lover, then looked at Luca again.

"Indeed. He's feeling a bit too relaxed right now, so I hope you also excuse Seed's impoliteness."

"Poems, huh. What kind of poems are those?" The dark-haired prince asked the question just out of curiosity, but could guess the answer. Love poems. The Intelligent General was reciting love poems to the red-haired swordsman. He'd known about their relationship for years, since it started, and lately the two hadn't bothered to even try keeping it a secret.

"Oh, Prince Luca, nothing you'd be interested in. Love poems that I write to Seed. Totally pointless things about him being mine and that kind of stuff."

"Hmm." The prince smiled a bit, looking thoughtful. He could hear Seed mumbling something about Culgan being a bastard who did mean every damn word.

"...Luca? Love poems? They're like that?"

His dryad got his attention instantly. "Oh, I don't know. I don't read love poems. Jillia reads them sometimes, I think."

"I'd like to hear you read them to me sometime."

"If you want, piglet. I'll find some book... or something..." He didn't know what to answer, really. He couldn't imagine himself reading poems, but if Kinnison wanted to hear poems, he'd go raid the library.

The two lovers were apparently mostly ignoring them, since the redhead was giggling to something and the silver-haired man had forgotten his notebook and was busy playing with the younger man's hair. He was reciting something that did sound like a poem.

Luca shrugged, turning to leave. Then he stopped, deciding to ask about something. His serious side was kicking him for dropping to this level, but the few words he'd heard from the poem sounded nice, and his gentler side wanted to whisper such words to the boy.

"Culgan?"

"Yes, Sir?"

The prince tried to look casual. "If you ever have time, could you... write down some of those poems? I think my sister would like them."

Culgan smiled. The ice-blue-eyed tactician was too smart for these games, and could actually guess why the Prince of Highland would ask him such things. But he just nodded his approval.

"Why, indeed. Most of my poems are quite romantic. I guess Lady Jillia would find them interesting. I'll write some tonight, or maybe tomorrow when taking a break from paperwork."

"That would be nice. Just... send them to me or something. I'll give them to her."

"Of course, Sir."

The prince nodded, turning around. He walked away slowly, arms still around the boy.

"Luca?"

"Yes, piglet?"

The dark-haired boy smiled, pressing himself against the older man. "You really will read me poems?"

Luca couldn't keep himself from smiling, too. His young lover always made him smile, even if he didn't want to. Most of the time it really annoyed him; he surely didn't want to end up like his two officers back under the tree.

"Yes, I will. I promise. Later. Let's go get my papers now and go inside."

The boy leaned against him, sighing happily.

"I promise..." The prince muttered, sighing as well. He had a hard time imagining the silver-haired general reciting poems, and he surely couldn't imagine reading them himself. That didn't matter, really, since he knew he'd do anything his dryad wanted.

Author's notes:

A random idea I got one afternoon while lying on the bed thinking of nothing. So I had to get up and write it. My new record, anyway: a fic that was finished in one night.

Setting is a bit odd, maybe. Well, this is littlemaiko's Luca/Kinnison setting. The only way to write a fic about those two is to use that setting, really... Ah well. Maiko-dono said it's close enough, so I'm happy with that.

- Lady Harken (February, 2002)