will/ren

“So? When are you two going to tell Fidelio?” Will sighed. “It’s not like you guys can keep hiding it forever.”

“I think there’s someone that should be a bit more worried about Fidelio,” Strohl said with a smirk.

“When are you going to be telling Fidelio, Will?”

Will nearly spat out his drink at this retort.

“Stop trying to change the subject, Strohl. This is about you and Basilio, not me! As Basilio’s brother, I think Fidelio has the right to know what kind of relationship you two have,” Will scoffed.

Basilio had a look of pure confusion on his face, the poor oblivious paripus he was.

“What does the Cap have to be tellin’ our Del?!?” He asked, clearly shocked that there was something he wasn’t in the know about.

“Don’t tell me you seriously never noticed, Bas…” Strohl said, then leaning into Basilio’s ear and whispering to him “Our friend here has been making heart eyes at your brother since God knows when…I’m shocked you never noticed, really. Well, don’t take it too harshly Bas, I’m sorry for not telling you about this beforehand”

To this, Basilio gave a knowing nod and a bright smile like he had just been told some amazing new secret that he could help out with and devote himself to.

There was no reason to whisper it really, the subject was quite obvious to Will, but he put on his best poker face to make it seem otherwise regardless.

Will coughed. “I’ll…Um… I’ll Tell him if you tell him about you two first…Ahem.”

“Oh really? Best we do it soon as possible then for the sake of His Majesty, right Bas?” The clemar said, turning to his partner with the same knowing expression and slyness as before.

“Right, right! Better do it quick! No reason not to tell Del after all! Sure he’ll be right proud, like!”

And with that, the meeting came to a close.

Basilio practically skipped out of the door with Strohl in his tow, waiting until just outside the door to loudly proclaim “Our Del and the Cap?!? ‘s a match made in Heaven, I tell ya Strohl! We gotta help ‘em out!! ‘m proper giddy Del has such an amazin’ secret admirer out there! Who woulda ever guessed, right?!”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t go too crazy on it right, Bas?” Strohl said reluctantly, taking Basilio’s hand in his own and leading him down the royal halls. Basilio was horrible with fancy buildings like this and would get lost extremely quickly if Strohl didn’t take the lead with him, after all.

“I won’t, Strohl, I swear!!” Basilio exclaimed, shaking his head up and down quickly again and wagging his tail, clearly very very happy for this newfound endeavor of his.

.............................................................................................

Recently, The Royal Palace had gotten a few new renovations, one of which was a bath, similar to the one in Altabury Heights. It was a large decadent bath, magically heated and connected to the Palace, allowed only to His Majesty and those closest to him. Of course, those closest to Will meant the Six Partisans.

The male partisans, Strohl, Heismay, and Basilio could come whenever they wanted, whereas the female partisans were allowed bathing there only when His Majesty was not in. Despite this, Strohl and Heismay wouldn’t dare. They took proper care to not walk in on His Majesty out of respect for his privacy, even given permission.

Basilio, however, did not care much for picking up on cues like these and took whatever chance he had to be alone with Will and talk his head off as busy as he was. Not to mention how great the bath was, relieving him greatly of his sore muscles. It was a great pick-me-up after his long days.

Soon after being told of the news of Will’s crush on Fidelio, Basilio started coming to the baths as often as possible and telling Will all the amazing things that he could about his brother. Old stories, little quirks, all the amazing things that Del had done, in hopes of further endearing Will with him and giving him a push forward to pursue Fidelio seriously.

Will didn’t mind this, it wasn’t like it wasn’t allowed after all. It was just like the good old days when they would bathe in Altabury together, before everyone held Will to such a high regard. Basilio was one of very few people that treated Will without care for his status, and Will enjoyed his company because of that, especially if it meant getting to hear all the secrets about Fidelio that the man would likely never dare to tell Will himself.

“That's nice Basilio, thank you for telling me all of that,” Will said with a soft smile.

“ ‘Course! If anyone’s gonna be able to chase our Del, its you Cap!”

“So you did know…” Will said, a faint flush catching on his face.

“Eh? Ah…Whoops…’s Me bad…Strohl told me not to tell ye…Always was bad at keeping me mouth shut, me,” Basilio said with a slight awkward chuckle.

“That’s just fine Basilio. It’s good that you’re honest about it at least. I’m glad to have you of all people as my supporter.”

“Strohl supports ya too Cap, trust me! He just don’t wanna disturb none ‘s all. We both got your back and we got experience to boot too, yeah? So just holler if ye need any help at all with courtin Our Del!”

Will thought back to the first time he found out about Strohl and Basilio. The first time he saw Strohl pull Basilio down towards him by the neck and kiss him passionately. It was all rather intimate for happening in the Royal Garden publically, right before his eyes.

Will had dropped what he was holding with a loud clank, alerting the two. They explained everything to Will, that they weren’t really trying to hide any of it, that they simply didn’t know how to break it to him as his two closest male friends. The two had been more careful since then at the very least about not getting caught. Lest the She-Beast Hulkenberg would have been further up their tails about it by now. But why was it that they still hadn’t told Fidelio about their relationship?

It felt odd to Will, but he shook off the thought along with the water dripping from his pale blue-white hair and turned back to Basilio, responding to him.

“I will, thank you Basilio.”

Basilio gave him a big toothy grin, showing off his sharp fangs and giving a strong thumbs up towards Will.

Leaving the baths together, both of them thought that maybe, for once, everything would turn out just fine.

With each other's backs Strohl and Basilio would be able to tell their truth to Fidelio, and Will would be able to tell his own truth to His Love.

Willdelio as Cotton Candy Ice cream.