Work Text:
"That concludes ma—uh, my r-report." Joshua clears his throat awkwardly, trying and failing to ignore the way his cheeks are heating up.
Ricardo beside him and Lady Anastasia across from him are both positively beaming at him, and he resists the urge to hide his face in his hands because that wouldn't be very proper of him.
Of course they noticed his little slip-up. He knew better than to hope otherwise.
And he knew, of course, that—even worse—there was no way his brother wouldn't notice.
He doesn't want to see his brother's reaction, but he isn't able to stop himself from peeking up at him. After all, for him looking to his brother comes even more naturally than breathing.
His brother tends to be kind of hard to read as, unlike Joshua, he has mastered keeping his thoughts off his face, but Joshua likes to think he's pretty good at understanding him.
His brother's expression hasn't changed; he's just staring at him, blinking. Which is the Julius equivalent of stunned.
It's not the worst reaction in the world, but Joshua still feels shame building in his chest.
"That was pretty good, kid," Ricardo laughs good-naturedly, giving him a solid pat on the back. "You'll be soundin' like a Kararagi native in no time."
Joshua frowns. He doesn't want to sound like a Kararagi native. He's not from Kararagi. He's from a noble household in the Kingdom of Lugunica, and the way he speaks should reflect as such.
Anastasia puts a hand on her cheek and, still grinning, says, "Oh, dear. It seems we've been a bad influence on Joshua here."
"C-certainly not…" Joshua protests immediately. He's pretty sure Anastasia is joking, but even so, he can't have her taking the blame for his failures.
Anastasia suddenly leans forward in her seat, eyes practically sparkling. "Let's hear some more."
"P-pardon?!"
"Well, I hafta admit it was a little excitin' hearin' a Kararagi accent from ya, Joshua. It's so different from how ya usually talk. It's kinda endearin' ta hear ya talkin' like us, ya know?" Anastasia clasps her hands together, smiling cutely up at him. "I'd love ta hear more."
"Um." Joshua looks at his brother desperately for help.
To his relief, his brother answers his silent plea.
"Lady Anastasia, please don't tease my brother too much," Julius lightly chastises.
"Fine, fine," Anastasia pouts at him. She instantly brightens back up, though. "What about you, Julius?" she asks sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him.
"What about me?"
"I'd love ta hear ya try a Kararagi accent."
Julius blinks slowly, putting a hand to his chin in thought.
"L-Lady Anastasia," Joshua protests.
"What?" Anastasia tilts her head. "Don't ya wanna hear it too, Joshua?"
Joshua opens his mouth to reply. He closes it.
He doesn't know what to say.
He meant to deny it immediately, but for some reason he stopped.
Does he want to hear it?
His brother has a very unique way of speaking—formal and polite, flowery and almost poetic at times.
It's hard to imagine him speaking any other way (though Joshua knows he didn't always speak that way; he has vague memories of when Julius first became a member of the Juukulius household, that transitional period when his brother was still getting accustomed to using formal speech), and the Kararagi accent is basically the polar opposite of Julius's usual speech patterns.
The very idea of Julius speaking in a Kararagi accent feels viscerally wrong to Joshua.
But…
At the same time…
There's a burning curiosity in him that he isn't quite able to ignore.
Maybe…
No!
No.
He mustn't.
His brother is surely uncomfortable with the request.
He is, isn't he?
Admittedly, Joshua can't really tell. His brother's expression is neutral.
Still, the only reason his brother is in this situation is because of him.
He needs to say something—
"Yeah, the kid wants to hear it. Ain't that right?"
Just as Joshua steels his resolve, Ricardo makes a decision for him, looking at him with a toothy grin.
"H-huh?! I—wait, um—"
"Alright!" Anastasia claps her hands together, completely ignoring him. "It's settled then!" She turns expectant eyes on Julius.
Joshua looks at his brother nervously, waiting for his reaction. He somehow feels like he's betrayed him, even though Joshua didn't even say anything.
"Apologies, my lady," Julius says, elegant as ever, "but I am not sure I will be able to live up to your expectations."
"What expectations? You're so serious, Julius." Anastasia giggles. "We're just havin' some fun. Loosen up a little. Ya don't gotta worry about being 'good enough' or whatever. I just thought it'd be fun ta hear ya talk a little different from normal."
Julius nods slowly, thinking it over.
Joshua watches with bated breath.
Is he really considering it?
Anastasia is leaning forward, also waiting eagerly.
"Well, kid? Are ya gonna do it?" Ricardo breaks in after the silence drags on too long.
Joshua twists around to glare at him, but Ricardo just grins at him and places a giant hand on his head, ruffling his hair.
"Sorry." Julius's lips tug down into a slight frown, still looking like he's thinking way too hard about this. "This is a rather difficult request to fulfill without any preparation."
Anastasia nods and holds up a finger. "How 'bout this then? I'll say somethin', and then all ya hafta do is try ta imitate it as best ya can. That sound good?"
Joshua watches his brother's expression relax in relief as if that solved everything.
"Of course. I will do my best."
"Great!" Anastasia beams, clapping her hands together.
"Weren't we supposed to be having a meeting?" Joshua says faintly. He goes ignored.
"Let's see…" Anastasia taps her cheek in thought. "Got it! Say 'Ana, I really, really love ya!'"
A stunned silence falls over the room.
Joshua looks frantically at his brother for his reaction.
Julius's face is blank like he doesn't even know how to react.
Ricardo whistles. "The little lady's got guts." He laughs loudly.
That seems to snap Julius out of it. He opens his mouth to say something, but it's more than Joshua can take.
"What are you trying to make my brother say?!" he demands.
Anastasia blinks innocently at him before smiling in a way that sends shivers down his spine.
"Yer so right, Joshua. Sorry, sorry. Naturally ya should be first as the little brother."
Before Joshua can even begin to figure out what she means, she turns back to Julius.
"Sorry, Julius. I actually have a different request for ya."
Joshua is surprised to see that his brother actually looks almost wary of what his lady is going to say.
"Aw, don't look at me like that, Julius. I was just jokin' earlier, okay? Don't be upset. You'll like this one. Don't ya trust me?"
Joshua doesn't.
And personally, he thinks his brother would be better off if he didn't trust her too much either.
His bad feeling only grows when he notices her glance at him. When their eyes meet, she grins at him. It looks almost predatory to his eyes.
"Of course I trust you," his brother answers sincerely.
Anastasia at least has the decency to look a little sheepish at Julius's serious response to a question she'd posed largely as a joke, though to Joshua her reaction just proves that she has less than pure intentions.
She recovers quickly, though, turning back to Julius with a bright smile.
"Okay! Ya ready?" At Julius's nod, she takes a deep breath and begins. "'Joshua,'"—Joshua nearly chokes when he hears his name—"'ya are the best little brother in the whole world. Ya are so smart and—'"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Joshua can't stop himself from interrupting, his face burning. What is she thinking, trying to make his brother say all that? More than that, what is his brother thinking? The whole time he was just nodding along like he didn't see anything even remotely wrong with this.
Anastasia tilts her head, blinking innocently at him. "What's wrong, Joshua?"
Ricardo is laughing beside him, patting his back rather roughly.
His brother looks oddly disappointed. Probably because Joshua had rudely interrupted Lady Anastasia. He's sure he's going to get scolded later.
He adjusts his monocle nervously. "It's a little much, isn't it?" he weakly tries to justify his outburst.
His brother frowns slightly, shifting his focus back to his lady. "I apologize for my younger brother's rudeness, Lady Anastasia." Joshua hurries to apologize as well. Anastasia immediately waves them both off. "I do believe Joshua is correct about it being too much, though. I am not certain I would be able to remember and accurately recite all of that."
"I think yer sellin' yerself short again, but yer right. I mighta gone overboard. It's better to keep it short and simple." She taps a finger against her chin, thinking it over for a few seconds. "Alright. I got it. C'mere, Julius."
The way she leans in to whisper something to him isn't exactly reassuring to Joshua. The way the two of them both glance his way is even less so.
He suddenly feels a very strong urge to run away, but at some point Ricardo's hand had moved to his shoulder where it now rests heavily like a weight holding him in place.
His brother nods in agreement with whatever Anastasia said to him, but Joshua finds that even his brother's approval does nothing to ease his anxiety.
"Joshua."
Joshua snaps upright at the sound of his brother's voice.
"Y-yes?"
His brother is looking directly at him with a serious expression on his face.
Joshua tries not to fidget too much under his gaze. It's hard not to look away.
There's a beat of tense silence as his brother hesitates for the briefest of moments.
Ricardo is patting Joshua's shoulder in what he assumes is meant to be reassurance.
"Joshua," his brother says again.
A breath.
"Love ya."
He says with a straight face, serious tone completely at odds with the casualness of the words.
The previously silent room suddenly erupts with noise as Anastasia and Ricardo cheer.
Joshua himself is frozen, staring at his brother who somehow doesn't seem to be even remotely embarrassed.
"Good for ya, kid," Ricardo says to Joshua.
One rough pat on the back and Joshua crumples, finally succumbing to the urge to bury his face in his hands.
"Joshua?" He vaguely hears his brother's worried voice. "Was it that bad?"
"Nah, it was fine. Don't worry about the kid. He's just really happy," Ricardo answers for him.
"Yep! That was really good, Julius," Anastasia agrees, sounding extremely pleased.
"Was it? I thought it sounded a bit off…"
Joshua half-listens as his brother and Lady Anastasia talk, feeling completely exhausted.
Ah. I knew it.
She really is a bad influence on him.