One Month Later
"I'm tellin' ya!" Edan shouted to Nuru as the two argued over a text, which had become a daily practice. "It ain't no helix! Issa Crystal!" He had started dropping the bulk of his royal accent around the prince, who often privately called it a cute voice.
"And I am reiterating that it is clearly a helix." He leaned up at the warrior prince as he stood, resisting the smirk tugging at his lips as he set his hands on the hips of the white sundress he had taken to wearing during the day, a trace of gold trim along the ever lower growing neckline. He couldn't lie to himself, at least. The man was shockingly adorable whenever his cheeks grew red, and he stumbled into the precious accent again.
Right on cue, Edan's cheeks darkened, and he looked away. He failed to hide the adorable pout that was not at all hidden by his scruff. "Don't look a' me like that." He grumbled.
Nuru let his smirk slip slightly. "Like, what?" He stepped closer, placing a hand on Edan's chest. His long blue nails lightly scratched at his chest, his open puffy shirt offering no resistance.
"L... like..." He gulped hard. Nuru giggled, turning back to the page as he sat down.
"A helix?"
"..." He relented shyly.
"So easy." He muttered. The prince was falling into his ploy very well, and he was a fine conversationalist. He was not as studied as Nuru, but he had an eager and wandering mind. It hadn't taken long for Nuru to find that he just needed motivation to study more, and it seemed his visible infatuation with the river prince was perfect fuel for such a fire.
"Cheater." Edan huffed.
"Cheater, hm?"
"You bat those lashes my way n' my head gets all, dizzy. What kinda magic are you slingin?"
"Oh, dear, sweet Edan. Promise me something."
"Hm? Sure. What 's it?"
"Never stop being so preciously naive."
"Why you!"
Nuru laughed, already having taken off into a sprint out the door. He jogged at a good pace, giggling in his sandals as Edan gave modest chase. Maids and guards watched on as the two ran by. Most quirked brows, while some of the elder staff gave, knowing if somber smiles at the sight.
"You run like a crane in mud!"
"You ar'nt luggin' roun a five pound sword!"
"Ohhh, you certainly seem to think I carry some great weight!" He smirked, letting his skirt briefly flick behind him and flashing only the prince with his lace gold panties. The prince seemed to visibly break, steaming from his ears and nostrils for a moment before grabbing Nuru's skirt. He shocked him, thrusting it down to the ground and burying his gaze into the red carpeting.
"C...c.. careful..." He muttered out.
Nuru smiled tenderly, turning on his heel with a slight flutter of his skirt. The white fabric caught in the daylight through the painted glass windows, placing a foot just below Edan's chin, lightly hooking with it along the soft exposed toes, and lifting ever so slightly. "Edan? Sweet as Honey?"
"Y...yes...?" Edan's eyes had no idea where to go, and Nuru knew it. Forward went up his skirt. Down was his soft and supple thigh. Further down was his foot. Looking away at all could be read as an insult, though. Not that Nuru thought the idea even crossed the silly man's mind.
"Never stop being so preciously naive."
Edan turned several shades redder before a man's heavy throat clear made both turn and see King Hadeon with his arms crossed behind them.
"Your Majesty!" Nuru straightened himself as Edan fell chin first to the ground. He really had been drooling a little with his eyes, having found a middle ground with Nuru's knee before.
"I see you boys are getting close. I do ask you to keep the rough housing to places with less breakable objects, though." He wagged a finger at Nuru, who was internally thankful that the king seemed about as blind as his son. Must run in the men.
He glanced at Edan as he dusted off his shirt, standing with a chuckle. "Apologies, Father." Nuru frowned internally for some reason. His lip briefly even flickered down, though he corrected the error. "We were just a bit riled up by a heated argument, but Prince Nuru fogured out the solution." Nuru felt a twinge in his chest at such an open relention.
"Well, all well and good then. Nuru, please. How have you and Aelfrun been getting along?" He smiled, placing his thicker hands on the smaller man' shoulders. His body shrieked inside st the contact.
It was not helpful that the first memory that came to mind of the princess was her yelling at him and throwing every book near her when he had forst approached her. That had been the week of their mother's death. Since then, she had not been any warmer, but she had stopped throwing things at him for now.
"They are going well." He lied with a confident smile.
"Splendid." The king grinned. "Well, I shall send a letter to your father discussing that treaty. Get those talks a good head start, hm?"
"That would be marvelous, your majesty." He gave a curtsy.
"Then it shall be done. Scribe! Come with me." The king walked off with a young man writing in toe.
Nuru thanked Isis internally. That had been rather closer than he would have liked. His plan relied on growing close to Edan to learn how to woo the princess, and such intimate details required an intimate touch. He wasn't abobe such methods of pursuasion, it was just another form of control. His body was as useful as his brain for political machinations.
Besides. He always had Maryjane to calm the harder nights.
"Hey, you a'ight?" Edan asked, snapping Nuru from his thoughts. A smile stretched subconsciously across his face again, small, but defined.
"I am. Why do you inquire, hm? Growing worried for me already?" He teased with a hand lightly covering his mouth, eyes narrowing just a little. Edan's cheeks lit right up.
"Wha' wazat?! I think i hward me mate, so I'll see ya!" He turned heel and bolted, rushing so fast down the hall toward the unspoken shout that it nearly tossed up dust clouds. Nuru was left giggling happily at his adorable shyness.
"I see you have grown fond to teasing him." He heard Aelfrun speak as she approached. Nuru turned, smiling as warmly as he could.
"Princess! Oh it is so-"
"Cut the shit water boy." She fixed him with a narrowed glare. He gulped slightly. "I can see through your plan as clear as polished glass." Nuru began to sweat just a little.
"I... don-"
"You intend to seduce Edan."
"..."
"I do not know your end game, but if you don't fancy ladies, I won't take offense." She sighed. "But. Father is... insistent. So. Perhaps we can reach an accord."
Nuru narrowed his eyes, folding his fingers lightly in front of him. "I merely find the prince fun company in a land of... differing views." He tried to put it as politely as he could.
"So your just a whore." Nuru felt his blood boil near to a blaze, but she snickered after a second. "Nah, you're way too pretty for that. So what are you really doing with my brother, hm? Shouldn't you be spending all this effort on me?"
"I am simply giving you time. The first time I approached you, I was met with around five hundred leather bound pages." Aelfrun blushed, quietly rubbing a hand through her hair.
"Ah. Right. Guess I have been a bit... foul of late." She sighed. "Well." She set her hands on her hips, pointing a finger at Nuru. "I'm watching you, Princey. Just." She sought for the words. "What you and Edan do where Father can't see, regardless of this, marriage happens, isn't my business."
"You...?"
"Courtly loves in fashion these days, haven't you heard? Besides, you... aren't exactly my type..." Nuru quirked a brow. "You're pretty, but..."
"Ah. I see." He gave a more relaxed smile. A bit of a relief that at least this whole shitshow really was them against the crown. "I myself am untethered."
"What's that mean?"
"The sex or dress of my partner has little sway over my attraction. Beauty is beauty. It has no singular shape."
"Oh." Aelfrun seemed a little taken aback by that. "Huh." She made a face that almost made her chin resemble a rock, which got a giggle out of Nuru. "Learn something new every morning."
"You are rather nice, when you are not shouting or hurling property." Nuru gave her a gentle smile.
Aelfrun looked him over for a moment. It was then Nuru assessed the retinue with her. A trio of ladies of various size and notable background. A tall warrior, a small quiet type, and a more politically dressed officer. They stayed quiet, at a bit of a distance as well, but he was certain they were listening.
"You aren't too bad yourself when you stop all that political masking of yours." She gave him a cheeky smirk. "Shame you got a thing for Edan. He's oathsworn."
"I. I have not confessed to such an.. Oath.. sworn?" He gave her a slightly puzzled look.
"Oh ya. Means he cannot date or bed anyone. Pact with his goddess and all. Well. Not until he marries them and builds a home for them. Soooo." She snickered a little.
The warrior approached first. "The conditions are for a hearth and home goddess."
The officer next. "Are we really talking to this... Foreign power?"
The small one growled lightly at the officer for their comment.
"Yes, and you would do well to address the prince Nuru as such." She crossed her arms. "How about we have a little chat. Sonewhere more private sometime. Tomorrow, by the garden."
Nuru considered this. It would be the chance to get closer to Aelfrun, while also convince her he was making no such scheme and thus not rat him out. The claim on Edan was ridiculous, and this news only solidifed that.
"I shall be there, Princess Aelfrun." He gave her a little bow before turning to take his leave. He could feel three sets of eyes nearly burrowing into his back, but a fourth pair felt both hotter and less painful at the same time.
This dance was only just beginning.