Chapter Text
lluga doesn't know exactly how long he spent in the shower, but by the time he steps out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist and a faint cloud of steam behind him, his fingers are wrung out and he feels like a brand new person.
The last two weeks had been quite arduous; patrol after patrol, report after report, meetings about monthly budgets and so on. Illuga isn't one to complain about his work as a Lightkeeper, and a Captain at that, always ready to give it his all and beyond in the restless war against the Wild Hunt but even he, who has pulled out more all-nighters than roughly half of all Piramida combined, could feel how his body was desperate for a break. He didn't even need his old man to force him to take a well needed rest; Illuga had surprised him by asking for a two day leave on his own before Nikita could do it himself without asking for his son's permission.
Nikita immediately agreed but extended the leave to be three days instead of two and Illuga was so tired that he didn't object at all, said farewell to his pops and proceeded to outright fall unconscious the moment his head touched his pillow. Illuga came to be grateful that Nikita gave him three days instead of two because by the time he woke up it was morning of the next day already. It took him a few seconds to even recognize his own bedroom but less to notice that he had fallen asleep with his uniform and coat and the consequences of it were obvious, his skin feeling damp from sweat all over. Through sheer will Illuga had dragged himself to the bathroom to take a most needed shower, cold at first to wake himself up before progressively rising the temperature.
He still feels a bit tired but not so much so as to fall asleep on his next step like he felt yesterday and the last few days. Perhaps after eating something he'll visit Flins, as they hadn't seen each other in what feels like an eternity to his dismay; he misses Flins so much that he even had a dream last night of the older ratnik petting his head while Illuga slept.
Done showering, Illuga makes his way to his closet, a slight bounce on his step at the thought of visiting his colleague and friend, but the moment he opens the drawer where he stores his underwear, realization hits him.
It's empty.
Caught in too much work, it had completely slipped from his mind to do the laundry, to the point most of his clothes lay in a bundle of dirty clothes in his laundry basket.
"Shit...", he mutters, holding his forehead. At least he still has another sweater he can use in the meantime but he's out of both clean pants and underwear.
There go his plans to visit Flins...
Illuga sighs, cursing his bad luck, but another realization gets him: the clothes outside!
He rushes to the small window in his door and there it is, his saving grace; he can see a clean pair of pants hanging from the clothesline and, if he remembers correctly, there must also be underwear along with another few articles of clothing. And it is just his luck that his only dry pair of underwear are most likely his favourite panties, soft white cotton and a small bow and frills to add a touch of colour.
Filled with relief, Illuga goes to grab the doorknob—and promptly remembers that he's only wearing a towel and that his home is right in front of one of the viewing decks that plenty of his fellow Lightkeepers hang out at.
Illuga grimaces, it seems he has no choice but to get dressed with what he has and go outside to retrieve the clean clothes. Well, if it's only for a few minutes then he must do it—even if he has to wear his already used pants again.
He swiftly puts on his clothes and steps outside, the morning sunlight shining on his face feeling nice after a whole day of being cooped inside his home. While on his tiptoes he retrieves his clothes one by one: a pair of pants, socks, some shirts and a sweater.
"Huh...?".
His panties are nowhere to be seen.
Illuga frowns. Despite the hustle his life has been these past two weeks he distinctly remembers hanging his underwear, putting them last on the line so they wouldn't be as visible. Had they fallen somewhere? Or, Archons forbid, did someone take them?
That thought almost makes Illuga laugh from how absurd it sounds—why would someone want to steal his underwear in the first place?
Whatever may be the reason for his underwear's disappearance, it doesn't change the fact that they are gone, souring Illuga's mood. It feels even worse because those were—are his favourite pair and he even bought them because, embarrassingly, the colour of the tiny bow at the front and the frills reminded him of Flins' hair colour...
As he sulks, from the corner of his eye he catches sight of a light flickering in the distance. He turns his head to take a proper look and realizes that it is the Lighthouse at the Final Night Cemetery, its light turned on despite being so early.
Illuga jolts in place, a most ridiculous thought coming to mind — could it be...?
Sir Flins is a rather strange man afterall, perhaps he came to Piramida and caught sight of Illuga's underwear and took them—for what? Because of a sudden whim? Because they fell to the ground and he couldn't return them to their owner? Or perhaps he did it on purpose, stealing his panties like a joke or, Illuga's traitorous mind comes up with, to have something that belongs to Illuga, a garment that has been in close contact with his body that whoever got to steal them (Flins, allegedly) would likely try to sniff at and—
Illuga stops himself from further thinking about Flins doing improper things, lest he ends up soaking his pants with something other than sweat and make them completely unusable.
Despite having no proof whatsoever, Illuga has a hunch that if he wants to find his panties' whereabouts he must go to the Final Night Cemetery and confront its sole inhabitant about it. Plus, he did want to visit Flins.
A sigh escapes from his mouth. He has no choice but to go commando and in the pants he's currently wearing as he doesn't want to get his only clean pair dirty.
As he puts away the clean clothes to their respective places and puts on his coat, Illuga sincerely hopes that the boat trip to the Cemetery will be amenable and not too uncomfortable.