White Dragon Stories

Crossover

It was the first time for Hakuryuu and Kougyoku to invite a friend, who also was an advisor of another kingdom, over. Both were unsure what to do or say or what friends did when they met. Of course, they had a plan or a reason why they had invited said friend in the first place, but it still felt strange. It was a completely new experience for both of them. Hakuryuu himself had cleaned the kitchen a million times and Kougyoku had refused to leave the dining hall until every corner was so clean that someone could eat from it. One may not believe how one's eye could see even the smallest dust grain, when one was nervous. The servants were much calmer about the upcoming visit, because for them the friend of their royals were nothing but another noble guest. Therefore, they did what they always did when noble visits were expected, clean and decorate the palace and then go on with the daily life. Sounded easy and reasonable, however Hakuryuu and Kougyoku were so nervous that they got on the servant's nerves so much that it was a surprise no one got killed.
It was hard to stay composed when your boss stood right behind you just to tell you constantly what you had to do and ordered you to clean the same spot for the billionth time. Neither Hakuryuu nor Kougyoku were normally this obnoxious, bossy, demanding and nit-picking, because they knew that everyone knew what they had to do and how to do it. However, today was a special day for the two and so they turned everyone crazy, because why freaking out alone when you can at least drag some servants with you? The more the merrier, right?

A few months ago Hakuryuu and Kougyoku had been invited by a king of an unknown country. After a long discussion what they should do and if they should both leave the country they had decided to trust the other king and visit him. Now that good trading connections with others was necessary to ensure a good and high living standard for the population, they should not turn down an opportunity to seal a contract with another country. With an uneasy feeling they had set out. In retrospect both were glad they had made the journey. For the first time they had spent a lot of time together – in the palace they often were surrounded by servants, guards, soldiers, advisors and so on. It was totally different whether one only spent an evening together at home or had to travel for several day without a possibility to get out of each other's way in case it was needed. Not that they had any problems with each other, but everyone needed some privacy, which was greatly restricted during a journey. On the other hand, this was a good opportunity for them to get to know each other better. At the palace they were very busy. They had talked about their feeling and their hopes, yet there were still a lot of things unsaid. Things they addressed on their journey, when they had to stick together for a very long time without a chance to dodge. Maybe this situation was what they had needed to address those things in the first place, because just sitting next to each other in silence was extremely uncomfortable and awkward, so small talk was made just to turn into a deep and emotional conversation. When they arrived at the unknown kingdom Hakuryuu and Kougyoku felt like different people and as if their relationships with another had gotten stronger, which was quite useful when dealing with the other king. They felt more at ease.

Unexpectedly the other king was a relatively young man – young compared to the other rulers the Ren siblings knew. At his side were his three closest friends and his wife, who was very beautiful, intelligent and kind. Kougyoku and the queen soon established a friendly relationship with another. For Hakuryuu things were a bit harder. He was unsure how to interact with the king and his friends outside of their political meetings.
There was this blond guy Prompto, who was very kind and funny – maybe a little bit too energetic for Hakuryuu's liking, but this did not change the fact that Prompto was a nice person and only meant well. He was making photos all the time with a camera – something like this did not exist in the Kou Empire yet. In general the other kingdom name Lucis was more advanced regarding technology, therefore there was a lot the Kou Empire could learn from them. The question was just what the price they would have to pay would be.
The king's name was Noctis and Hakuryuu had the feeling that they were much alike when it came to interaction with strangers, yet this similarity was not helpful. However, it took a bit away from the nervousness Hakuryuu had felt and it was easier to understand the other's actions and reactions.
Another friend, who accompanied Noctis, was a guard with the name Gladiolus or Gladio for short. It was the first time Hakuryuu had heard a friend being called by a nickname – well, his brothers shorted their names too and Aladdin had done the same with Morgiana, but the first had been family and Aladdin had been a child and children gave nicknames to everyone and everything. Even the king was called Noct instead of Noctis most of the time. Gladiolus was an intimidating guy: tall, muscular, deep voice and a scar across his chest and his left eye. Although he looked like this he was a kind and caring person. Just the way Gladio interacted with his little sister or his wife was prove of this – also Gladiolus always lent a helpful hand to everyone, who needed one.
The last in the group was the advisor Ignis. For unknown reasons Hakuryuu liked the man immediately. Something about him was calming and reassuring. Sadly, Ignis lost his eyesight during a fight years ago. Hakuryuu had been really surprised, when he found out that Ignis was still in charge of cooking, despite not seeing anything. Some people were truly amazing! Ignis was one of them! By the way, his meals tasted fantastic! Moreover, the meals were the reason why Ignis, Hakuryuu and Kougyoku slowly became friends, because all three of them liked cooking.
For Ignis it had been nothing special or enjoyable at first, but seeing the smiles on other people's faces made him feel great and so he started to enjoy cooking more and more. Creating new recipes was also great.
Hakuryuu had found some way to distract himself from the loss of his family, when he started to learn how to cook, and it was something he was good at, which was pure balsam for his broken soul. He had never been good at something or there was someone, who was better at it than him, therefore it felt wonderful to finally have something he was good at.
For Kougyoku it was similar. All her life she had been neglected and only been looked down upon because of the social status of her mother, so cooking or in her case baking was a way for her to be herself and express herself. Unfortunately, besides Ka Koubun and her two personal guards no one had known about her hobby or had tasted her desserts. Ka Koubun even sometimes refused to eat her stuff, which was very heartbreaking. However, she understood that he was just not a sweet tooth like her. Her other two servants on the other hand always ate her creations with a big smile on their faces. To see how much they enjoy her food made her smile and feel great. When Hakuryuu first tasted one of her cakes, she had been pretty nervous, when Hakuryuu said he liked it, she could have died out of happiness. Sharing a hobby with a family member was a brilliant thing, because one could share thoughts, new ideas or do said hobby together. Through cooking they had strengthen their bond.