Chapter Text
“Hey, slayer candidate! I have a question.”
Noticing he was being addressed, Bam looked away from the all-white figure who just left the room to focus his attention on the tall red headed man sitting in front of him.
“Yes, Mr. Yama?”
Another long reunion had just ended and most people had already left the room, leaving only him, Evankhell, Hansung and the Baylord brothers.
Reunion was actually just a fancy name for a screaming competition among FUG members in which only the one who yelled the loudest could get their point across. It was also a great opportunity for Bam to train his reflexes by dodging the flying objects that were commonly thrown around, varying from harmless cups, to lethal chairs and the occasional dagger.
“I wanna know how in the world did you and White end up together.” It was much easier to understand what Yama was saying now that he was no longer growling obscenities.
After the news of their relationship was put under the spotlight, Bam had seen many different reactions to it. Most people were surprised but didn’t care all that much about it while others, mostly FUG higher ups, had much more explosive reactions, torn between seeing it as a way to manipulate the couple and as a potential threat to the organization.
Given that Yama’s question had a purely curious tone to it instead of a judgmental one, it seems he was in the ‘I am curious but don’t care much about it’ team, which Bam was thankful for.
To be fair, they weren’t actually trying to hide their relationship. The issue is that they seem to be a quite… unusual couple and thanks to that no one noticed they were together. What they saw as flirting, most people saw as White being a creep and Bam rolling with it, which isn’t that far of the truth. The difference is that there is also love involved in it. It might not be your typical shoujo novel love but still.
“Oh yeah! I’m also curious. I thought you too hated each other's guts and then all of a sudden I find out you two are banging.” Evankhell added, changing her mind about leaving the room and sitting back on her chair with Hansung beside her.
“Well, it is a bit of a long story.” he warns.
“I was expecting the reunion to drag out longer, so now I don’t really have anything better to do” Doom says with a shrug of his shoulders and Paul, as usual, nods along with his older brother.
“Alright then. I guess it started around two years ago…”
Bam had a routine.
Everyday he would wake up at sunrise, make a quick breakfast for himself, spend a few hours on the training grounds, make lunch for his team and spend the rest of the day training under Evankhell. Depending on how exhausted he was, he would either instantly pass out after getting home or spend the night time dining and chatting with his friends.
Until one day, his routine was broken.
Since Bam went to the training grounds at a sinfully early hour, he never found anyone else there. Only this time he wasn’t alone. Even before he entered the room, Bam was already able to sense someone else’s presence. White was in there.
The slayer had joined their team a few weeks prior.
Before he was climbing the tower with Karaka but there was an issue, usually test floors cannot be passed individually, they require a team, and since rakers can’t participate, White was paired up with some FUG regulars. The problem is that he was constantly complaining about getting weak teammates and it was getting increasingly harder to find regulars willing to join forces with the man who was well known for eating people’s souls.
That’s when Karaka, tired of playing babysitter for his senior, decided to put White on Bam’s team since it was by far one of the strongest out there and Evankhell would always be nearby in case things went south. Not to mention they were all familiar with the ancient slayer, especially Bam.
Unsurprisingly it wasn’t the best idea.
White and Bam got along like water and oil and whenever they were put in the same room, fights would erupt. Thankfully they were both aware that their temporary alliance was necessary, so most of their distaste for each other translated into endless bickering, annoying for sure, but not lethal. Despite all that, during the tests the duo worked perfectly together and they were able to pass them swimmingly but for the most part they tended to ignore each other’s presence in an attempt to preserve their unwanted partnership but it seems White decided to break their unspoken agreement of mutual avoidance.
“What are you doing here?” Bam asked the Arie man who was currently practicing his swordsmanship. He silently prayed for the training dummy White was going against, it seemed the poor thing wouldn’t survive to see another day.
“Isn’t it obvious? I am having a tea party of course” White replied with a smirk, sarcasm dripping from his words.
“Is that so? I hope you kept some cookies for me.” he mumbled quietly before moving to the corner of the room he usually used. It was far too early in the morning to go picking a pointless fight. The training ground was big enough for both of them.
Unfortunately, it seems White disagrees with that.
He barely had time to react as he felt a cold blade pressing against his neck. In two swift moves he was able to dodge the sword and turn around to face his opponent. White was able to predict his movements and caught his fist mid punch, taking advantage of their position to shove Bam against the nearest wall and trap him there with the tip of his sword making a small tear where it rested, on the middle of his stomach.
“Spar with me little slayer” White said, grinning down at him.
“Why should I?” he asked in return.
“Because you don’t have a choice.” he answered, pressing the sword a bit further to emphasize his point.
From that moment on, a new routine was established on Bam’s life. Everyday when he went to train, he would find White there waiting for him. He wasn’t sure if the slayer was an early riser with nothing better to do or if his desire to fight Bam was strong enough to drag him out of bed, either way he could not deny their daily sparring sessions were making his skills improve at an alarmingly fast pace. He might not be White’s number one fan but he wasn’t going to pass on an opportunity to get stronger, so he relented.
Unfortunately for him, his encounters with White did not stop there.
Slowly but surely, White began to insert himself further and further into Bam’s life.
Instead of meeting on the training grounds as usual, Bam would now find White in the kitchen instead. Apparently the slayer found out about his culinary gifts and demanded to taste them. Already used to cooking for his entire team, making an extra meal wouldn’t be a big inconvenience but he still refused to be treated like a servant. If White wanted to eat he would have to help.
Of course the slayer was enraged at the mere thought of participating in such a trivial task. Despite being incredibly old, being a powerful Arie he always had someone else there to provide for him, preferring to dirty his hands with blood instead of cake batter but after a long discussion and threats to shove take out food down his throat, Bam was able to convince his senior to do the bare minimum.
He only asked White to do simple tasks, like measuring the ingredients and cutting up some fruits, not involving him in the actual cooking part after all, he wasn’t planning to die of food poisoning.
“Ugh, I can’t believe you are forcing me to do this.” White complained for the nth time while chopping down a piece of cheese.
“It’s ok if you can’t do it, I know it can be pretty hard for beginners.” he said in a worried tone.
“His Majesty is perfectly capable of cutting some cheese!” White sounded so offended, Bam had to hold back a laugh.
“What are we even making anyway?” he asked.
“It's called Pão de Queijo. It’s a typical plate from where I’m from, sometimes Rachel would bring me some when she visited me and I ended up learning the recipe.”
“Wait, what’s the name? Pan…?” White asked. It was clear he was having a hard time trying to pronounce the words, it was kinda cute.
Wait.
Cute?
Nevermind.
Shaking those weird thoughts away, Bam continued what he was saying.
“Pão de Queijo. Translated it would be something like ‘cheese puff’. They are little bread-like buns made from tapioca flour and cheese and they are very tasty.” He explained
“I already put the salt, milk, water and oil on the pan and it’s starting to boil, so now we must mix in it with the tapioca flour.” he said as he carefully poured the liquid on a pot and mixed it with the powder using his hands. “And now we add the eggs as well.”
“Wait, do you have to mix it with your hands?” White asked and for the second time during that day, Bam had to stop himself from barking a laugh at the disgusted look in White’s face.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you are scared of dirtying your hands.” He mocked.
“Scared!? Hah! I just see why anyone would willingly shove their hands on a pot with eggs inside it.” he answered.
“Uh huh, whatever you say.” He chuckled. “Ok, please pass me the cheese now.”
“Isn’t that too much cheese?” White asked as he passed him the bowl
“There is no such thing as too much cheese. The more the merrier.” stated matter of factly and added all the cheese into the batter.
Not too long after, they finished the dough and shaped it into small balls that went straight to the oven.
Cooking with White wasn’t half as bad as he expected. Despite the constant complaining it seemed he enjoyed himself and played close attention to Bam’s movements even though he claimed to not be interested in gastronomy.
Taking the buns out of the oven, they divided them into two bowls and sat down to eat and Bam silently watched White’s reaction. He was very proud of this recipe, it was almost like a treasure he wanted to share, and he loved to see others enjoying it.
He could hear the crunch sound the bun made as White took his first bite. At first he was slightly hesitant but after he tasted it his eyes widened and Bam could practically see them sparkle. Throwing all self restraint aside, he dived straight into the bowl shoving the cheese puffs down his mouth as if there was no tomorrow. By the time Bam got to his forth bun, White had already finished his entire bowl and looked heavily disappointed after realizing it.
“So… I guess you liked it.” Bam laughed quietly, amazed at the unexpected reaction of the slayer who looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“…I can appreciate good food when I find it.” White said looking somewhat embarrassed and quickly tried to recompose himself.
“Do you want to eat the rest of mine? I’m not really hungry.” he offered.
“Well, if you insist. A god should not deny their followers' offers.” he claimed, looking very pleased with the outcome.
All in all, Bam thought that the man’s presence was, not exactly pleasant, but tolerable.
“I wonder if your soul will taste as good as this.” White mumbled under his breath.
Maybe he said that too soon.
“Hey, Bambi!” he hears Evankhell calling. “I have a new mission for you.”
It was now late in the afternoon, they had just finished their training and Bam was lying exhausted on the floor. He felt pain on body parts he didn’t even know existed, as if he was run over by a truck and after the driver realised he was alive, they decided to run over him again, just to make sure.
A low pitched grumble was the very eloquent answer he managed to provide.
White, who was sitting on a nearby bench, chuckled at his obvious struggle. Annoyed at the older man’s behaviour, Bam sticked out his tongue in his direction, which earned him a wide grin in response.
“A group of rankers of the Lo Po Bia family have settled an animal trafficking scheme on the 45th floor. Since the only other rankers in there are test administrators and they don’t care about the wildlife of the floor, there is no one there to stop them. Your job is to track them down and put an end to their plans.”
Animal trafficking? Ugh, how can animas treat those unfortunate creatures so poorly?
“Since it’s a regulars only territory me and Hansung won’t be able to accompany you, so you better take White along just in case Jahad’s forces manages to find you.Since we are dealing with rankers, it would be safer for your friends to stay here.”
Wait. He would have to go along with White? Alone?
Something told him that wasn’t a good idea. It’s true that they have gotten closer lately, you could even say they are even friendly now but it was impossible to tell how much longer that would last. They could go from cooking together to lunging at each other’s throats in the blink of an eye.
“Well, this should be fun.” White said with a dangerous glim in his eyes.
Bam, expected the Arie to refuse the proposal, given their complicated past but surprisingly he seemed a bit too enthusiastic about it.
“Don’t worry, little slayer. His Majesty doesn’t plan on eating you just yet.” The tone he used was supposed to be reassuring but the malicious look in his eyes screamed otherwise.
Taking a deep breath, Bam quietly weighed the pros and cons of taking White with him and made his decision.
“…Fine.”