Free bird

ㅤ "Captain Schwann! Captain Schwann! Captain Schwann!" Flynn, forced on leave, was full of enthusiasm, and wouldn't leave his idol alone, completely forgetting—and sometimes deliberately ignoring—his request to forget the existence of the long-dead, "worthless" captain. And Raven wanted to send the boy away, not always politely, but one look into those innocent puppy-dog eyes, filled with pure sincerity, and Raven gave in. Finally exhausted, somewhat resigned, Raven decided to try a different tactic than evasion. Taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly, he forced a smile and said with forced enthusiasm: "Let's go have a drink!" "Huh?" Flynn was so accustomed to simple, dismissive answers that he didn't immediately believe what he'd heard. True, the bar wasn't his favorite hangout… Usually, if Flynn showed up at such establishments, it was with a troop of knights, breaking up yet another rowdy brawl, and throwing quite a few of the brawlers behind bars to sober up. "Well…" Flynn mused. "We visited a bar together once before," he finally smiled. "Oh, yes, I remember…" Raven's already uneven smile twisted. 'You won't get off so easily this time,' he decided firmly. And Raven had almost overcome the emotional trauma he'd inflicted… No matter how hard Raven tried, getting Flynn to drink even a drop of alcohol proved an impossible task. But he wasn't about to give up! He needed either compromising evidence or the shame that had settled in Flynn’s soul, which in the future would prevent him from pestering… "captain Schwann". "Come on, respect an old man—have a drink!" "B-but I can't. A knight's duty…" "Come on, relax, boy. You're off duty right now, and I'm just Raven, an old man without a title to worry about any kind of duty. A free bird!" he laughed. "So free yourself too. Let yourself finally rest. Or," Raven suddenly transformed from a smiling fool into a stern man, pressing the words, "maybe you don't respect me?" "Huh!? Well… I…" 'Yahoo, right on target!' Raven exulted internally, unafraid it was too early for a mental celebration of victory. But Raven was right: Flynn, though he wanted to ask sensibly how one thing was connected to the other, caved under the pressure of his unyielding gaze. After all, he truly did respect captain Schwann, despite everything…" ㅤ Raven very quickly regretted what he had done… Half a mug of not the strongest liquor was enough for the teetotal Flynn to get really drunk. And Raven didn't benefit at all from this, since Flynn had lost not only his sobriety but also his conscience, pestering him even more insistently and loudly: "Captain Schwann! Captain Schwann! Captain Schwann!" 'We need to somehow distract his attention…' Raven had hoped that Flynn's attention would somehow "distract" itself once Flynn felt more at ease. But who knew all the attention would be focused on him alone? That wasn't part of the plan! So, remembering his past bitter experience, Raven "sicced" the girls on Flynn. Since they liked the young knights so much, he let them work for his benefit… And then the girls handled the rest themselves, pouring alcohol into his mug and luring the "easy victim" into the spacious room. 'Well, now I can take care of myself!' Raven sighed happily, relieved and with a sense of accomplishment, as he eyed a prettier girl. ㅤ The next morning, there was a knock on his door… Raven was wary, involuntarily picturing his blond nightmare. However, everything turned out alright: the "nightmare" was merely Yuri looking for it. Raven had to accompany him to the room where Flynn had been taken. After a formal knock, Yuri unceremoniously opened the door. …He hoped to the last that Raven had embellished the story, that Flynn had merely sipped, merely pretending to drink. "You really got him drunk…" Yuri said tensely, looking at his soundly sleeping friend. If Flynn had been in his right mind, he would have scolded Yuri even before he opened the door. "I tried my best!" Raven said, smiling broadly and contentedly. "Do you realize he's going to marry her now, right?" Yuri scolded Raven sternly. "What, is it that bad?" "You can't imagine how…" "Well, may love bless them, what can we do? And what will he do with this one?" Raven pointed to the hand sticking out from under the blanket at Flynn's feet. "…Too?" Yuri suggested warily, trying to imagine it. And then unimagine… The feeling grew even more intense when a third girl emerged from the bathroom. "I hate the hangover…" she stammered with difficulty, falling back into bed, provoking a reaction—behind Flynn, who was hugging the first girl, another one began to move. "Four…" Yuri and Flynn gulped. Neither of them had even dreamed of making such a thing a reality, and Flynn wouldn't even remember it. "Listen, do you think he'll share?" "Nah, he's too responsible to hand over his 'duty' to someone else." "And the secret to getting so many into bed at once?" "Believe me, he doesn't know himself. And I'm afraid you'd just have to be Flynn to do that, and that's not a very promising prospect." "I agree…" 'I'm terribly jealous…' Raven admitted to himself. 'One thing comforts me: after this, he'll definitely leave me alone!' ㅤ Raven's hopes were dashed… Despite all the hardships of denial, recognition, and acceptance, Flynn didn't leave "captain Schwann" alone, even though his insistence had diminished and his voice now sounded very timid. Even mentioning the incident didn't help: Flynn would only pause briefly, turning something over in his head, as if rehearsing some kind of directive, but remained steadfast in his intention to "annoy Captain Schwann". However, Raven, too, was no longer so naive, suspecting something: after all, Flynn had never married any of the girls. 'I don't believe a single innocent look of yours…' ㅤ