The morning sun shed its first rays on the ground, making the scenery glow. Birds greeted it with a melodious song, and as the darkness withdrew, signs of life could be seen around the Officers' Academy of the Scarlet Moon Imperial Army, located in the capital city Gregminster. The sun eventually made its way high enough to shed its light in from a half-open window, and on the face of a black-haired young man.

Alen stirred, opening his eyes slowly and raising his head a little to take a short glance around the room. It was quiet in the room, but there were sounds outside. The small room he shared with Grenseal was a little messy, and he made a mental note to clean it later. They were General Teo's men, and if the general happened to stop by, having a room in this condition was inexcusable.

His roommate was still asleep. He smiled a little and pressed his head back down where it had been a moment before. He rested in Grenseal's arms, head against the younger man's shoulder. They were sleeping in Grenseal's bed; Alen's own bed was untouched.

There was loud noise outside. Alen sighed and got up reluctantly. He reached for his clothes that were neatly arranged on the chair next to the bed and pulled his pants on, glancing at the door.

I hope it's not another morning inspection...

He placed his hand on Grenseal's shoulder and shook him gently in an attempt to wake him up. The younger man mumbled something and rolled over, not wishing to be awakened just yet. Alen shook his head and smiled as he walked to the door and opened it, taking a questioning look outside.

There were several young men in the corridor, most of them half-naked and looking as confused as he was. There were a couple of officers down the hall, talking to someone. Alen raised an eyebrow when he realized one of the people was a vice-general; why would anyone of that rank be here in the morning?

"What's going on?" He asked from the closest person. It was Nathan from next door.

"They're doing a morning check, I think... or rather, were." Nathan shook his head. "No one knows the original reason for it, anyway. By the looks of it, they caught someone in an... uh, inappropriate situation."

Alen paled a little. "...What?"

"Trevor and Ralph were found sleeping in the same bed," another cadet stated silently. Alen caught a knowing - and a little worried - glance from Nathan, and slipped back into his room before anyone else who might have known about him and Grenseal got a chance to comment. He closed the door and leaned his back against it, forced to take a few deep breaths before doing anything else.

"Gren?" He asked in a quiet voice, staring blankly at the window across the room. The curtains moved slightly in the light wind.

The dark blond raised his head a little. "Yeah, yeah... I'm awake." He stared at Alen for a moment, then inquired, "Is something wrong?"

"You don't want to know," the dark-haired man mumbled. He walked to his bed and sat down on the floor next to it. His roommate was about to ask something but didn't have time to say anything as someone knocked on the door. This caused Grenseal to jump up and draw a sheet around his waist.

"Just great..." Alen muttered, then cleared his voice. "Yes? We're awake."

The door was opened, and he blinked and then lowered his head in shame. The one who had knocked on the door was none other than General McDohl. Grenseal greeted him, taking a hasty look at his roommate who had scrambled to his feet and looked rather scared for some reason.

"Morning, Alen, Grenseal. At ease; you don't need to get up just because it's me." Teo entered the room and closed the door behind him, staying next to the entrance.

"Good... morning, Master Teo," Alen finally said, trying to control himself. "We're honored to... see you here this early. Uh, sorry about the mess..."

The general smiled. "It's quite all right. Just woke up?"

"Yes, sir," the younger cadet replied. He sat down on his bed and picked up his clothes. "Alen was just trying to make me get up..."

"Ah. I assume you were woken up by the noise, then," Teo said, addressing Alen. "They aren't being too delicate, but under these circumstances I can't blame them. Which leads me to the reason why I'm here..."

Alen swallowed slowly. "And that is?"

The general sighed. "I don't know if you've heard anything, but we were informed there have been drugs around here. You both realize that's quite serious. We can't allow something that dangerous to be used in the Officers' Academy... And once the guilty parties are found, they will probably be suspended." He looked at both of his cadets, then smiled just a little. "Don't be afraid. I would never suspect you of such crime; I trust you both to know better than that. But, if anyone ever did suspect you... It would be questioning my honor too, which is why I came to check your room personally."

"That's... wise of you, Master Teo," Alen commented quietly, seemingly relieved. Grenseal stared at him for a moment, knowing that there was something wrong with him but unable to do anything about it right now.

"Wise, or rather foolish if you think of it the other way." Teo shook his head. "They might just think I'm protecting you..."

"Could anyone really be that absurd, Master Teo?" Alen asked, a little shocked. "You are one of the Five Great Generals! Using drugs...You would never tolerate such behavior from your men. Surely they must know that."

Teo gave him a half-smile and shrugged. "You never know. Well, get dressed; the sooner I get this done the better."

They got their clothes on quickly. The general waited until they were done, and then had them help check the room. The investigation was quite thorough; Teo looked everywhere, leaving no place unchecked. They arranged the room while at it, moving things out of the way where the general hadn't looked yet.

Once they were done, Teo just smiled. He stayed there, helping his cadets to make the beds, which had been practically turned upside down in the check.

"General Teo, you don't have to..." Alen started when the general picked up the sheets from the floor.

"I don't mind," Teo replied, standing up. "I'm sorry this had to be done, but it was necessary. I hope they find whoever is guilty of bringing drugs to the Academy. Still, I'm really sorry to even give you the idea anyone would suspect you."

"No need to be sorry, sir," Grenseal commented and took the sheets from Teo. "Hmm, I think these need to be washed anyway..."

Alen would have blushed but he didn't dare while the general was present. A passing thought made him wonder if the general had noticed anything... but that was as far as he got. There was a light knock on the door, and one of the Academy teachers entered, stopping to greet General McDohl. He then asked, "I suppose this room has been checked already?"

"Yes, it has, and it's clean. Well then, Alen, Grenseal... I'll see you in the afternoon in the sword practice. Go have some breakfast before the morning class." Teo nodded to the cadets and left.

"You're cleared, then," the teacher stated, marked something on a notepad he was carrying and left the room, leaving the door open. Alen walked over and closed it, looking down.

"That was... interesting," Grenseal said and sat down. "Would you now tell me why you're so nervous?"

His roommate turned slowly, still keeping his gaze on the floor. "It's just... you know Ralph? He has something with Trevor, eh...?"

"Yes?"

"It appears they were found together this morning while they were doing the inspection. I don't know more about what happened, but it didn't look too good. We should probably try finding out more, and then if..." The dark-haired man trailed off, shivering. Grenseal got up and wrapped his arms around his lover, unable to say anything.

"Do you think..." Alen whispered, leaning against his friend. "If they knew that we're..."

The younger man sighed. "I don't want to think about it. We'll definitely have to try to find out more. I hope nothing serious happened to them, but there is always the possibility that..."

They didn't get a chance to speak more about it as Nathan knocked on the door, asking if they wanted to go have breakfast. They agreed, but before letting go of each other, Alen looked his lover for a moment. Grenseal's eyes gave him the answer he wanted; they would talk about it later when they knew more.

Late in the afternoon, they were finally back in the room, both exhausted from the practice. General McDohl was an excellent teacher, and they had learned a great deal about fighting from him. They stripped off their armor and cleaned the equipment in silence, not wanting to talk about anything. They had both been thinking about the same thing the whole day, but neither of them knew how to talk about it.

About half an hour later, Grenseal got up and put his equipment away. He walked to the desk and turned around to look at his lover.

"Alen? I need to go return this to the library... need anything?" He asked, picking up a book from the desk. His roommate shook his head. "You sure? Okay... I'll be back in a while. Try to rest?"

"I'm sure. Just... Gren? I... uh, nothing. Go already." Alen lay down and stared at the ceiling.

Grenseal just nodded and headed out, not saying anything but knowing what Alen wanted. So far, they had not heard anything about what had happened in the morning. There were several people he could ask about it, and he wasn't about to come back without knowing at least something.

When the younger cadet returned about half an hour later, Alen was sitting on his bed and reading. He looked up from his book when his roommate entered. "What took you so long?"

"I talked to Trevor," Grenseal replied. He closed the door and sat down in the nearest chair. "He's... in some trouble because of..." He trailed off.

"I see." Alen looked down, several quite unpleasant thoughts haunting his mind. "Gren... What are we going to do?"

"Not get caught?" Grenseal moved to sit next to his lover and wrapped his arms around Alen's shoulders. He shook his head as he could feel the other man shivering. "It'll be okay, Alen. Sure, Nathan and a couple of others know, but they aren't going to tell anyone."

"I guess you're right," Alen replied, but the tone of his voice gave him away. He didn't believe in his own words and was scared of the very thought of being caught. He always tried his best so General McDohl could be proud of them, and a detail like this might ruin everything.

"Stop worrying," Grenseal said quietly. He petted Alen's dark hair, sighed and closed his eyes.

"But what if..." The other cadet started, raising his head and looking at Grenseal.

"What?"

"Master Teo was here just this morning. I didn't sleep in my bed last night... It's not too hard to notice if you pay any attention to something like that. And maybe... what if Master Teo has stopped by our room sometime when we were sleeping... you know..."

Grenseal kissed him on the forehead. "Alen, that's paranoia. Stop it. You're making me anxious too, and one of us needs to stay calm..."

"I'm sorry," the older man mumbled, pressing his head against Grenseal's shoulder. "I'm just... afraid."

A light knock on the door made them both jump. Alen withdrew from his lover's arms and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down before he walked to the door and opened it. "Uh, yes? ...Master Teo?"

"Alen, Grenseal." The general looked at them. "Tired yet? It looks like I could use some help with paperwork, so I thought..."

"Uh, not at all, sir," Grenseal commented quickly. "We were just sitting here and reading..."

"Would you be willing to come help me, then?" Teo asked.

Alen nodded, finally feeling a little calmer. "Of course, Master Teo."

"Well then," Teo said with a smile. "Let's get going, gentlemen. With you two helping me, I might actually have a chance of finishing it tonight." Both cadets nodded and got up.

"By the way..." Teo stopped by the door and turned around, his hand resting on the doorknob. "About what happened today... I wanted to say I'm quite proud of you two. You didn't complain about what was happening, and were more than helpful when I had to check the room."

A reddish hue rose on Alen's cheeks, but Grenseal managed not to blush. He smiled to Teo, looking only slightly embarrassed. "You're flattering us, Master Teo, when there is no need to."

The general laughed. "Oh, I say there is. I guess you don't realize how valuable you are to me... Some praise now and then shouldn't hurt you."

"We're honored, Master Teo."

"About the other... incident this morning..." Teo started, looking at the two.

Alen gulped as color fled from his face. He glanced sideways at Grenseal, who kept his cool... but for anyone who knew him as well as Alen did, his position gave him away. He was nervous. Alen shifted his eyes back to the general and asked carefully, "What... about it, Master Teo?"

"I presume you know about Vice-general Winter's cadets... Their names are Trevor and Ralph, I believe."

Grenseal nodded slightly. "Yes... we know about that."

"What do you think about it?" General McDohl asked, looking thoughtful.

Grenseal glanced at his roommate; Alen looked like he had lost his voice. He bit his lip, trying to think. "Well... I heard that... the vice-general isn't too... open-minded when it comes to..."

"No, he's not," Teo commented, shaking his head. "Even threatened to dismiss the two from his service... Such drastic measures are not necessary in my opinion. A minor detail like that doesn't determine one's worth as a soldier, don't you think?"

"O-of course not, Master Teo," Alen stuttered. Grenseal simply nodded.

The general closed his eyes and smiled. "Never mind me. I'm just making sure you two don't think I'm ever going to dismiss you because of something like that. I'm not so closed-minded that I'd think that that kind of relationship makes a bad soldier. Rather..."

Both cadets were staring at the tall man now, quite dumbfounded and partly scared. Teo knew?

"...If you think about it, isn't it better this way? At least you don't spend all your free time chasing women, or even worse, trying to impress your girlfriend," The general finished his sentence and looked at the two. "...What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Uh, w-what? N-no..." Alen faltered. Grenseal saved him from having to say anything else. "We... didn't know that you... er..."

"Ah... I see." Teo smiled warmly. "Let's just say, I pay attention to things. Anyway, as I said... And, if anyone ever confronts you two about it, tell them to come talk to me. I can make people like Vice-general Winter shut their mouths very quickly."

"Understood, sir," Grenseal replied, not knowing what else to say. "You're... too kind to us, Master Teo," he then added, looking down.

"Not at all. You two only get what you deserve, I can guarantee that. Well, then. How about some paperwork?"

"Yes, sir!" Both cadets took their jackets and followed the general out. Teo headed for a corridor that would take them to another building, where the general's office was.

Alen glanced back into the room before closing the door behind him, and smiled to himself.

Author's notes:

Am I the only person around who actually writes Alen and Grenseal? How sad. They're such a lovely pairing, and very easy to write.

- Elmina (August, 2004)