Tome of Ilthran: An indeclinable offer

FEATURED CHARACTER(S): Ilthran Resphin, Monzor Qain (Guard captain of Baltso Fortress)
CONTENT WARNING(S): MxM, financial troubles, emotional abuse
PROMPT/LOCATION: [Past event] : Baltso Fortress : citizens Residence - Ilthran's home

 

There was a knock heard upon the door. Inside the small environment, there were sounds of books falling to the ground and shuffling noises, until a man with long sage green hair opened up the door. "Hello, what can I do f—"

Ilthran, a lonely magician, standing at his doorframe. His eyes grew wide when he saw the guard captain standing on the other opening of the door. He was the one who had been visiting him the past few weeks, and the reason for this usually went hand in hand with a number of complaints. May they be verbal or written in an extensive note. Regardless of the man's business, Ilthran never had a good experience with him.

They made eye contact, and clearly, the elf experienced troubles to keep the contact consistent. The guard captain on the other side, a much taller human, he had no difficulty. His piercing blue eyes nearly penetrated those gray ones of Ilthran, and the elf blinked his before he had his gaze resting on the doorframe. "Um, what can I do for you today, mister—" He had already forgotten the man his name again. The human was happy to fill it in for him. "Monzor Qain is my name, I would have assumed you to know it by now. By the frequency of my visits at your door." He swung his head to the side and lifted his chin, adding height difference to their already present wall of 5 inch (12 cm) difference.

Ilthran led his gaze back to the man and smiled sheepishly. "Forgive me, there has been a lot on my mind lately. It has shown to be a much bigger struggle than I had expected to ... Remember things correctly." A faint color appeared on his cheeks that strengthened his embarrassment only more. The guard captain grunted and placed both his shoulders over his chest. His attention is drawn away from the elf who stood nervously in his house. The man seemed to return a nod to someone in the distance. It had Ilthran curious enough to peek past the opening of his door, until he was paused in this motion, by the steps taken in his direction from the man right in front of him.

"Can I come in? I have things to discuss with you, and this is not a public matter for bypassers to listen into." Monzor asked of him, keeping that firm, fixated gaze on his, by the moment his attention was back on Ilthran. Anxiously, the elf turned over his shoulder to the most recent project in the other room, which had yet failed again and left quite the mess. "Of course, please, don't mind the ... Mess." Without trying to halt the man in his steps, who already seemed to accept that he is most welcome within Ilthran's home, the elf was powerless and stepped back to allow him passage. This man is one of many who are able to decide whether or not he will be expelled from the safe walls of the city. It is best to remain on his bright side, or so the young man thought.

The door fell shut behind them, and the sage green haired individual became much more anxious about the whole deal. How is he going to get him out afterwards?

"Like I had said, I have matters to discuss with you, Ilthran Resphin." His tone was commanding, it had no fear, and if anything, it had a rather intimidating nature to it. One tone that nearly made the magician flinch and shut his eyes to brace for impact. "Yes, sir? Is it ... About the fire the other day? I promise that—" Ilthran tried, but he was interrupted by a sudden yell.

"What fire?!" The guard demanded to know. "Oh! It's nothing, I got rid of it before it could spread—" Ilthran took a defensive stance, but it looked rather foolish by the way he had his hands in his hair and his knees trembling. That foolish display of him had the guard caught in a brief chuckle. "You truly are a troublesome citizen. Your neighbors have already been trying to sell and break down their homes to live farther away from your dangerous antics."

Ilthran had his gaze removed, away from the man again when a shower of shame drenched him. "Forgive me."

"But these are not the reasons for my arrival this very morning, young man." The elf lifted his chin and sought eye contact to express curiosity. "Then what is the reason?" The taller man reached for his beard and let his fingers trace the edges of the facial hair. "I have come here with a job offer to you, Ilthran Resphin."

The elf rose his brow. "A job offer?" Clearly, his only profession was a  blunder, he had wanted to become an inventor of some sort, but all his many magical experiments had only been causing trouble for his clients to a point where he had none left, but people who would occasionally buy basic items to do the work themselves with. Business hadn't been well, and he was inching closer to becoming completely bankrupt.

"That is correct, me and my men have been impressed by your cooperation last week." Monzor smiled, and that smile only added to Ilthran's confusion. "That incident had not been solved without your involvement, that provided us the lacking evidence and leads. If it wasn't for you, we would have been living among a group of criminals within the city walls."

The elf nodded back slowly, returning nothing but a blank and distant gaze. That was until images were popping up of this very situation. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. I got curious and had been asking ar—" Ilthran fell back into his old ways and seemed to have lost track of the conversation entirely. "Resphin, I am telling you that you did good work. This is not the first time you have helped us with the mysteries involving the citizens of Baltso. You have provided excellent advice on our offensive formations as well. I see potential in you. Do you hear me?"

Ilthran brought his hand to his mouth, letting his finger stroke past his lip. "You wish for me to join your forces?" The guard captain confirmed the elf with a firm nod. "That is indeed the position that I offer you."

A smile took form on the pale man's face, but the corners of his mouth dropped. "But I am not much of a fighter. I can't ever assist you like your guardsmen c—" Again, the smaller man was interrupted. "You will be our guard aide, my right hand man. The rest, I will teach you. I will make you capable of wielding a blade."

Ilthran gazed into his eyes with disbelief. There was an urge to slap his own cheek, to pinch his skin to confirm whether or not this was reality. "Honestly?"

The guard captain exhaled with a grunt. "Do not make me repeat myself, Resphin. You have been a worrisome man for all this time, and offering you such an opportunity is neither easy on us. Which is why it comes with certain conditions." The elf frowned and narrowed his eyes with mild irritation. Of course, this was going too easy. The magician nearly shrieked to see the guard captain closing in on him. Regardless of his anxiety peaking, Ilthran held his position. "Yes, mister Qain?" He let out with a nervous pitch.

"Our deal will not be written and signed, you will not be knighted into the position, but it will be sealed between the two of us in a special way." Guard captain Monzor looked down onto the smaller individual with a confident smile. It seemed to get intimate this moment, when he placed his large hands onto the slim man's shoulders in front of him. That impact was shown by the startled reaction of Ilthran's body. His body trembled a little in his touch. "T—Then ... What way?" The magician wondered, whose words adapted to a stuttering pattern of speech.

The guard captain leaned in and brought his face close. "Seal it with a kiss, or refuse and lose your home within these safe city walls. The choice is simple." Ilthran's face flushed, by now, his lip was also trembling, halted with a mouth that fell open to speak the words. However, no words left him. The stress was getting the best of him. "A single ... Kiss will decide ... My fate?"

Monzor held his position, eyeing him confidently. He knew exactly the decision that Ilthran would make. He knew that the man had no choice, for he will be hunted down for the debt that he had gotten himself in. A dead man, if he wouldn't get a stable income sooner than later. He reached for the elf his jaw and pulled him closer. "Decide." He whispered close to the smaller man's lips.



Ilthran shut his eyes, letting his eyebrows twitch and cheeks flush, when finally, he leaned in and signed what felt like a pact with a demon. Their lips touched, hands were wrapped around Ilthran's waist and back to deepen it. Then they parted and the warmth of Monzor's hands vanished with their removal of his person.

He stepped back, away from Ilthran and gazed him up and down. "I expect you in my office tomorrow in the morning. The barracks. You'll find me there for the details, Resphin." Before the elf could speak a word, his door was opened, and it shut again. There was no one in his home, but he, himself. That's when realization struck him. He has got a job! There is hope! ... But at what cost will it come?