(no subject)

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent stepped away from his library and the sleeping boy within it and went to the washroom, splashing cold water on his face. He felt at once too warm and chilled, and he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were too bright, and the color too high in his cheeks. He did not look calm, certainly not to one who knew him as well as Nicaise.

Breathing deeply, Laurent checked on the pallet of cushions once more and went to the kitchen to pour himself some water. His phone still lay where he had left it after ordering dinner. Laurent picked it up. For a moment, merely looking at Damen's name in his list of contacts calmed him.

It was ridiculous, of course. Damen would not care for this arrangement one bit, especially after that business with his own house guest. Still, Laurent was in tangles, and after a moment more he accessed his messaging system.

After a rough start, his fingers acclimated to the touchscreen keys, and Laurent began a message.

Why did your people build Ios on the sea?

Laurent sent the note, then frowned.

A sentry city would have done just as well, leaving you to safeguard your capital in the inland mountains.

Comments

[handfulofsapphires]

"Good riddance!" came Nicaise's fluting voice across the way, his tone faux cheerful. He still sat at the table, slowly eating, but mostly pushing the food around and silently sulking.

[princekiller]

The tone in the boy's reply hardly came as a surprise, but Damen barely even rolled his eyes. Laurent's words had done well enough to calm any lingering worry and he focused his attention there once again.

'Message if you need me,' he said, his words meant only for Laurent as he stepped in closer and finally curled a hand loosely around Laurent's lower arm.

With only some hesitation then, he leaned in to press a kiss to Laurent's lips, keeping it quick and chaste before pulling back once more, gaze drifting to Nicaise as he headed for the door. 'I'll see you soon,' he said, one hand on the doorknob before a small smile curved his lips and he added, 'Good luck.'

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent wanted to seize Damen's arm and beg him not to leave. He wanted to close his eyes and deepen the kiss. He wanted to keep them closed and pretend this day had never begun. He let himself experience each desire in turn, and then he set them all aside, nodding at Damen as he made to go.

'I'll call on you tomorrow,' he promised.

[handfulofsapphires]

It was bad enough to discover Laurent was friends with the Prince-killer, but to see with his own eyes that they were also lovers stunned him. There had been talk at the palace, jokes, that Laurent had been fucking his pet, though Nicaise did not really believe them, nor had he attached them to now.

It was not a forced kiss, or a sensual kiss, but something fond. Intimate without being overt.

Nicaise pushed his plate away, and once Damianos had left, he looked to Laurent. "He killed your brother," he said, caught between a question and statement.

[cast_iron_bitch]

Damen disappeared with a clicking of the lock, and Laurent felt rather than heard Nicaise's inevitable question. He turned and made his way back to the table, reclaiming his seat across from Nicaise and his half eaten plate.

'Do you think I had forgotten?'

[handfulofsapphires]

Nicaise made a sour face, eyes tracking Laurent's movements. This new reality seemed to be at odds with everything Nicaise used to know as truth. But then, so much of what he'd already experienced here had turned the life he'd known on its head.

"I guess anything is possible, here. There are no kingdoms, pets are illegal, you are fucking Vere's enemy, what next? Animals can speak?"

[cast_iron_bitch]

'Not to my knowledge,' answered Laurent, 'Though in this place far stranger things have happened.' He wrapped his hand around his now empty water glass, thumb sweeping absently against the smooth surface.

'At the time of your death,' he said, 'Damianos was indeed Vere's enemy. But at the time of my arrival here, he had helped me to conquer the Regent once and for all. Because of him, Vere is returned to me. Because of me, Akielos is returned to Damianos. Our intent was to unify the kingdoms.'

[handfulofsapphires]

The disparity of time made little sense to Nicaise, but no one truly knew what happened in death. He must have been dead for months before this place brought him back. He resisted raising a hand to his neck as though anything would be found there. When he'd been in the children's home he'd stared at his neck for hours, but it was smooth. Not a mark.

"How pleasant," he said quietly, once more at a loss for words.

[cast_iron_bitch]

'I hope so,' said Laurent, 'I will never know, now.' But he did hope for it, just as he knew that it would not be a smooth or easy process. Nothing worth having in his life ever had been, including Damen himself.

He was quiet for a bit, allowing Nicaise to absorb it all. 'I know that it is strange,' he said. 'But you will acclimate. It would please me greatly to see you thrive here as you could not at home.'

[handfulofsapphires]

Nicaise felt a pang of sympathy, so unused to the feeling that it took a moment to place it. It seemed cruel to finally become King, only to be taken elsewhere and stripped of your title. But Nicaise was quickly realizing life was anything but kind.

"What would you have done with me, if I had been alive when you had become King?" Nicaise finally asked, looking up.

[cast_iron_bitch]

'Just as I said,' answered Laurent. 'I would have bought your contract so life could be something of your own choosing. What happened to you instead is as much my fault as it was my uncle's.' Laurent drew a breath. 'And I am sorry for it.'

[handfulofsapphires]

Nicaise's cheeks warmed with a mild flush. He was unused to people apologizing to him. But more than that, he was unused to anyone caring enough to. Or caring that they did at all.

"I thought you had lied to me," he admitted, picking at the edge of one of his bandages, feeling suddenly very small. "What happened was..."

He felt his throat burn, wanting to close around the words.

"I should have listened to you. About him."

[cast_iron_bitch]

Laurent held tightly to the breath caught in his throat. Through it all, he had believed Nicaise smart enough to understand what was happening to him, just as through it all, Laurent had counted on there being time to save him. But he had been wrong, about the latter only, it seemed.

'He was a very clever man,' he said. 'And he fooled so many. Nicaise.' Laurent met his eyes. 'I will do everything in my power to give you the life that you deserve. I know the circumstances are not ideal, but in this strange place, you have a far better chance. I am at your disposal.'