Chapter Text
“I was promised a sword and a pen.” Henituse replied, eyes flickering over to the baby dragon’s quickly materializing form. “Cashing in on all my labor in the Ubarr Territory, if you will.”
“Blondie!” The dragon cut in, toppling straight into Alberu’s chest. Alberu laughed as he fumbled into a loose carry, the dragon scrambling as he purred in delight. “He gave me a name! I think it’s pretty good, but I remember you told me to let you check that it was actually the best name, so—”
Henituse snorted. “You did what?”
Alberu coughed into his fist, feeling heat rush into his cheeks. “Ignore the macaw in the background, little one.”
“A macaw?” Henituse echoed, incredulous.
“Suitable, no? Bright red parrot, repeats everything you say?” Alberu grinned. The dragon cackled in his arms.
“A parrot—?” Henituse parroted.
“Go on, little one.” Alberu redirected his attention to the giggling dragon. He took a few seconds to settle down, managing to somehow stand straighter in Alberu’s hold.
“Raon Miru,” he declared, preening. “My name is Raon Miru.”
“That’s—” Pieces of an unknown puzzle seemed to be clicking in place in Alberu’s head, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. “—a beautiful name.”
“It is?” Raon lit up, and stars gleamed in his eyes before he brushed them away in an attempt to look cool. “I mean, of course it is. I wouldn’t accept anything less!”
Alberu chuckled, patting Raon on the head. He met Henituse’s gaze as Raon closed his eyes in contentment.
Above Raon, Alberu mouthed, “You did good.”
Henituse flushed pink. He scratched the back of his neck and looked away, muttering “Damn straight,” into the couch cushion next to him.
Alberu let himself indulge for a moment, tracing the lines of pronounced muscle that stretched over Henituse’s lithe pink neck with his gaze. His red hair splayed across the pillow, and Alberu was quite sure he would’ve signed a blank check just to run his hands through the crimson strands, all soft silk and beautiful.
God, he’s too pretty. Make him less pretty. Alberu looked up towards the sky, absolutely sure that Young Master Cale Henituse was definitely a gift from divinity, sicced on him for a laugh.
“Are you just gonna stand there all day?” Henituse cut in. “We stopped on our way to pick up some apple pie, ‘cause Raon wanted a slice, so—” Henituse reached down to pick up a basket, and the smell that wafted out was heavenly.
Alberu was suddenly reminded that he’d left half his dinner untouched, too focused on swinging Earl Gerrison’s vote to actually eat. A smile crawled across his face, and Alberu couldn’t seem to tamp it down.
Raon flew out of his arms to wait patiently on the table for their food, and Alberu strode towards Henituse, bending over to whisper in his ear.
“‘Because Raon wanted a slice,’ huh? Not because I wrote you a few days ago saying that apple pie was my favorite?” Alberu grinned.
“That,” The syllable seemed to escape Henituse in a squeak. He cleared his throat. “That’s just a coincidence.”
“And if you stopped to pick up a pie just because Raon wanted a slice, wouldn’t you have given him a slice to eat before I arrived?” Alberu was smiling so hard it hurt. He dropped his voice to a sultry murmur. “That pie looks pretty whole to me, Cale. ”
Henituse turned red, and god, Alberu loved that color on him— Alberu wanted to kiss it off his pale skin until he drowned in it.
“Shut up.” Henituse covered his face with his hands. “Just eat the damn pie.”
“Aw…you’re bright red.” Alberu drew back to admire his handiwork. “Is it because I called you out on a sweet thing you did, or is it because I called you Cale? Or—”
Alberu bent back down, brushing away a few strands of hair away from Henituse’s ear. “—do you like it when I whisper?”
Henituse jolted under him, a cute gasp seeming to escape his lips without his control. He covered his ear and bolted up into a seated position, his hands quivering.
This is how I die. Alberu chanted into his head. That was the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen or experienced in my life, and now I’m going to pass away from irregular heart palpitations.This is how I die.
Even as his entire face and neck flushed cherry red, Henituse’s eyes stayed defiant, and he stared Alberu down. “Don’t you— don’t you have work to do?”
Alberu bit his lip, resisting the urge to burst out into uncontrollable pelts of laughter. “Yes, yes. But even a revolution can wait for a slice of apple pie.” He slid beside Henituse on the couch and reached for the basket. “Oh. It’s still warm.”
“Human asked me to put a warming charm on it!” Raon boasted, puffing his chest out with pride.
“He diiid?” Alberu sang, dragging out the vowel. Henituse looked distinctly as if he wanted the world to swallow him whole. Alberu couldn’t hold back a chuckle. As Henituse rose up, incredulous, Alberu shoved a slice of warm pie in his mouth.
“Wh—mph?”
“We’re here celebrating your work, aren’t we?” Alberu handed him a napkin and a paper plate. “Isn’t it natural that the man of the hour gets the first slice? Right, Raon?”
“Right!”
“And second slice obviously goes to you, since we both know there was no way this weak, sheltered Young Master Henituse could’ve done it on his own.” Alberu handed the second slice to Raon, who grinned with devilish delight.
“Exactly right!” He chirped.
Henituse finally finished chewing his first bite, and he glared at both of them. “I’m perfectly fine on my own, thanks.”
“Sure, Cale.”
“Shut it, Alberu.”
Raon Miru glanced between the two, happily taking another bite of his apple pie.
…
“Out of all the Ubarr family members, Young Lady Amiru Ubarr is the most level-headed. Seems to be the only one who actually plans well enough ahead to realize that a civil war’s gonna break out in the Whipper Kingdom soon.” Cale muttered, mostly to himself.
“The King tried to fund a military base in their territory…” Alberu replied, scribbling annotations on a new piece of legislation. Cale watched his pen race across the pages, and his gaze flickered to Alberu’s bloodshot eyes and the sag in his posture.
“But that’d increase the crown’s influence in their territory, and they didn’t want that.”
“Obviously.” Alberu rolled his eyes. “I told him that. I was planning to ask a favor from one of the wealthier houses to invest in their military base.”
Excitement flickered to life in Cale’s chest. Not only could Alberu follow his train of thought, but he’d planned for the same predictions accordingly. Cale bit down a smile.
“You won’t need to call in that favor anymore.”
Alberu blinked at him, processing. Then, he laughed, soft and genuine. Cale wanted to engrave that sound in his mind forever.
“I wasn’t aware the Henituse family had an interest in military bases.” Alberu nudged Cale’s side with his elbow. “My, my, is Cale Henituse ushering in a new era for the Henituse territory?”
“As if. I wouldn’t take the title of Count even if you stabbed me with it.”
“That’s an idea. If I showed my favor for you becoming Count Henituse, I doubt there’s anyone who’d try to refute it.”
Cale looked at him with such blatant disgust that Alberu burst out in peals of laughter.
“Your face…!” He wheezed. “Well, just goes to show— don’t cross me, or I’ll boost your social status among nobility. Ooo. Feel scared.”
“Fuck off, Princey.”
Alberu only laughed harder, before he paused.
“What is it?” Cale asked.
“Shush, shut— shut your whole face, Cale, hush.”
“God, when was the last time you slept—” Cale berated, only half-joking.
Alberu ignored him, shoving his shoulder to get him to look at Raon, who’d fallen asleep with a half-finished slice of pie in his mouth.
“We should put him to bed. The table can’t be comfortable. And lower your voice.” Alberu hissed. “Oh. I got it.”
Slowly, Alberu got up from the couch (Cale missed his warmth immediately), cradled Raon in his arms (which did strange things to Cale’s pulse), and placed him gently in the warm, empty pie basket. A quick burst of dead mana flickered from his fingertips, and the warming charm was reactivated.
Cale wondered, briefly, stupidly, if the warming charm had somehow missed the basket and landed on him instead, since his heart seemed to be melting from… something.
Alberu draped a warm blanket over Raon, who was snoring peacefully in the basket, before returning to Cale’s side.
“Shouldn’t you join him?” Cale asked, watching Alberu pick up another page from his stack of work.
“Hm? Ah. Can’t.” Alberu gestured to the pile of paperwork next to him. “It’s all just busy work, anyway. Don’t worry, I’m not tired.”
Cale thought the purple moons stamped under both Alberu’s eyes said otherwise. Cale sighed, wondering how every decision he’d ever made had led him to this point.
Silently, Cale took half of Alberu’s stack of work and picked up a pen.
“Cale…?” Alberu looked at him with awe.
“We’re partners, aren’t we? Or do you doubt my ability to forge your signature?”
…
For a moment, fear rippled through Alberu, leaving him feeling lost and weak. When had he begun to trust someone so deeply? When had he gone from liking the color red to wanting to live in it, wanting to share everything he was with Cale and wanting to be trusted in return?
It’s scary, he realized, watching Cale skim through his imperial paperwork with ease and not feeling even a shred of suspicion for him. Trusting someone so much.
But, Alberu glanced at his drastically reduced pile of work and leaned into the warm body next to him, feeling Cale stiffen before relaxing into the touch. It’s nice, too.