Logically he knew Ashe meant what he'd said, Ashe wasn't the type to lie to a person. He'd seen the determination and sincerity in those eyes, even admitted he was falling for that cornball line. And sure enough, every time he got in over his head, there was Ashe to fire a shot from afar.
But he'd made a mistake. One, he'd started to take it for granted that Ashe would always be there. Two, he'd assumed an arrow would always be enough to stop someone. That maybe the person chasing him was too fast, or that they had someone as a lookout ready to nab anyone who tried to play backup.
Result? Ashe was slung over the lookout's shoulder like a sack of grain while the leader tied Yuri's wrists together and dragged him towards a small, ornate room. Yuri had been in enough sticky situations to know what a room like this meant, but nothing stung more than knowing he'd put Ashe in that kind of danger.
Ashe immediately started working the cord's knot to free his wrists, and resentment bubbled up in Yuri all over again. A little towards Ashe for not even thinking about the situation they were in, but mostly towards himself.
I'd heard you abandoned the Kingdom and all that fancy chivalry you love so much for Lonato's sake, but you're still you. Still the same knight in shining armor you always wanted to be when we were kids, always coming to my rescue, always trying to make everything better.
Would Ashe have bothered with him if he'd known Yuri had done more than just stealing in the past? He says he's never forgotten what it's like to wallow in the mud, but if he knew who I was rolling in that mud with...
"There." Ashe tossed the cord aside. "How does that feel?" Yuri flexes his wrists.
"I can feel my fingers, if that's what you're asking."
"Good." Ashe pressed his fingers to the doorknob. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of here-"
"Don't bother," Yuri cut him off. "Even if you get the lock open there's guards surrounding the place." Ashe blinked.
"Why would a brothel need guards?"
"Because it's not a brothel," Yuri said. "This is an auction block. We're going to be sold to the highest bidders, and places like this need to protect their valuable merchandise." Ashe's eyes widened in horror. "Yeah. It aint all sexy fun and games like those books you read."
"How did-" Ashe shook his head. "Never mind that. Yuri, I need to get you out of here." Typical Ashe, Yuri thought almost angrily, his own safety was at risk and once again he was more worried about the other person. The other person whose fault it is he got into this mess in the first place, because he just had to try to protect me.
Ashe kept fumbling with the lock, patting the walls to find a secret passage or exit, and Yuri couldn't even look at him. You're going to be sold to some disgusting noble who fucks you day in and day out, probably lets their disgusting friends take turns with you, gives you nice things to try to make you forget you're their personal whore, and it's my fault.
He liked it better when he'd thought Ashe was just morally outraged by his activities. At least when proper folks got offended by him he'd flip them off and move on, but then Ashe had to go and give that damn speech about wanting to save his friend.
Unless he's only doing this to prove he's still a pure and proper knight. He wouldn't, Ashe wasn't like that, but the thought stuck to Yuri's brain and he found it easier to believe than the idea that Ashe willingly risked his neck because he wanted to.
"None of this would've happened if you'd just kept your nose out of my business." Ashe turned abruptly towards him, his eyes narrowed.
"Well, too bad. I know by now I can't stop you from doing things like this, but I meant what I said that day," he said sharply. "I thought you understood that." I did, back when I was stupid enough to think you'd never get caught along with me.
"And look where it's gotten you," Yuri fired back. "You'll be singing a different tune when you're bought by some dirty old man or woman and kept naked in their bed until someone notices you're gone and rescues you." Ashe shook his head.
"I'll get us out of here before that happens, but it's still a risk I'm willing to take for you." And something in Yuri snapped, the resentment and self-hatred coming to a boil as he slammed his fist into the polished wood of the nightstand.
"Because a proper knight in shining armor always lowers himself to save even the scummiest of villains, right? Is that it?" Ashe opened his mouth to protest, but Yuri wouldn't let him. "This is all so you can feel good about yourself even after you ditched the Kingdom and all your fancy friends, isn't it? You were sitting at the popular kids' table with all those nobles till your dad begged you to come to the Empire's side, so you're desperate to prove you're still so perfect even after you killed one of your new friends."
He knew by the look in Ashe's eyes that he'd hit a nerve, and he felt even worse. But better I give you reason to ditch me and live your best life, right?
"That's not it," Ashe protested. "I made my choice. I could've very easily died like a knight or gone running back to His Majesty after they spared my life. But I chose my family, and every day I'm aware of those consequences! Nothing I do will change my actions or bring back Ingrid and Lord Rodrigue!"
"But you're still desperate to prove you're still a knight at heart, aren't you?" Yuri ground out, clenching his fist.
"Even if I am, that's not why I came to save you and that's not why I'll always save you!" He was ready to slap Ashe if he had to, make it easy for him to walk away and never look back, who's dumb enough to risk their neck for someone who hates them, after all?
"Then why bother if you've got nothing to prove, huh?"
"Because I love you, you idiot!"
And Yuri felt all the fight knocked out of him, his eyes stinging as though he'd just been punched in the gut. Ashe was directly in front of him by now, Yuri hadn't even noticed that he'd moved during their argument.
I love you. Only his mother had ever told him such a thing. Even his consensual fucks only ever told him how pretty he was, how much they enjoyed him, how they'd like to do this again someday. Love - romantic love, anyway, wasn't something he'd put much stock in for himself. His father had ditched his mother when she got pregnant, and no man wanted a prostitute with a kid.
But here was Ashe, a proper knight even after leaving his homeland, so moral and straightforward, pure and gentle and without a deceitful bone in his body, basically saying his feelings were all the reason he needed to risk his neck for someone as filthy as him.
A mangled half-laugh, half-sob escaped Yuri's throat as he dropped his gaze, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry!" Ashe cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell or call you a-"
"No." Yuri rubbed at his eyes. "No, I am an idiot. Fuck, Ashe, I-" He was crying now, damn it all to hell. "Why? How? I steal, I turn tricks, I kill people, I do all sorts of things you don't approve of."
"I know, but I don't care about that anymore," Ashe said, taking his hands. "I mean, I still don't think you should, but I can't make you stop any more than I can stop the sun from rising and setting. All I care about is keeping you safe, even if it means I might get hurt."
"I don't deserve it." Ashe's fingers were on his cheek now, wiping at his tears. "I don't deserve you."
"Yuri..."
"I have no right to needle you about how you used to be a thief, not when I've been more," he muttered.
"No, Yuri...I was the one who acted all high and mighty. I can never forget my past, but-"
"But you moved on, you rose up out of the mud. Lonato taught you that even a thief can better themselves," Yuri said. "I just kept doing all those rotten things because I didn't know better. My mother could never get any other work because people thought she was too dirty and weak. I buttered up Count Rowe just to get a place to live, and there was only so much Gwendal could teach me before I got sent underground."
Ashe squeezed his hands again, looking up into his eyes. Yuri scanned that gaze for pity and found only sadness.
"I'm sorry you never had what I lucked into," he said, "but I will never look down on you for it. And you were right, too...maybe I am still trying to prove to myself I'm a proper knight even after I abandoned the Kingdom."
"I only said that because I was mad."
"But it's true." Ashe sighed. "I had no right to lecture you when I'm no better. When I've been no better." But you are better, even when you stole and even when you turned away from the Kingdom, you never lost your heart. Me...sometimes I wonder if I still even have mine.
"I'm filthy. I'm...you don't want to know where I've been. What I've done."
"I don't care." Ashe brushed the tip of his nose against Yuri's. "I love you, and nothing will ever change that. And nothing will stop me from protecting you, so don't even try." Yuri's hand went up to stroke his cheek, fingertips tracing over his freckles.
"Can't believe I'm going to fall for another one of your cornball lines." He sighed, leaning back against the wall - and it gave way, Yuri promptly slamming his hand on the floor to keep them from falling. Ashe's eyes widened, and he probed the spot with his fingertips until he found a seam.
"I don't think we were the first ones to try to break out."
"Or, someone's hiding a stash back here," Yuri said. "Either way, though, it's worth a try." He lifted the paper, and they were both right. The stash was nothing to write home about, just a deck of cards and a half-empty bottle of vodka. But there was definitely a passageway wide enough for two bodies to slink through one after the other.
"Let's go," Ashe said, and Yuri let him go first. The passageway was long and winding and he could hear their captors' muffled chatter, his heart racing as he prayed they wouldn't get caught.
But they made it, the tunnel ending in a massive vault filled with chests of gold. Yuri forced his hands into his pockets as he looked at Ashe.
"We'll leave it."
"We'll take it." Yuri didn't know whether to tease that he was rubbing off on Ashe or worry that he was a bad influence.
"You sure about that?"
"This is gold earned at the expense of people's freedom and dignity," Ashe said. "These people don't deserve it. So we should at least take what we can carry, I don't think we can drag all of these chests back without causing a stir." Yuri smiled. Even when you want to do something wrong, it's gotta be for a pure and alturistic reason, doesn't it?
They filled their pockets with as much as they could get away with and snuck around to where they'd seen the leader throw Ashe's satchel. Yuri grabbed it, and soon they were on their way back to camp.
--
Half an hour later, everyone finished fussing over them and the gold was placed in the war funds chest. Yuri and Ashe lay in his tent, nestled under a blanket on the same bedroll.
"I meant everything I said back there," Ashe said, "and I still do. I love you, Yuri." Yuri shook his head, unable to resist brushing kisses over his freckles.
"Keep telling me," he said, "maybe someday I'll feel like I deserve it."
"You already do." Ashe curled against him, resting his head against his shoulder, and Yuri smiled a little. Like a real knight in shining armor, this one.
He closed his eyes, finally giving in to the warmth that had threatened to settle over him since Ashe's confession.
Don't ever change.