A couple of minutes later, Nick slipped into the cafe, in the same outfit he had worn to the marketplace earlier. He noticed Cas and sat down at the table with him. “Oh good, you’re already here!” he exclaimed, clearly happy to see Cas.
"Mhmm. I left a bit earlier." Cas had ordered a coffee to drink while he waited for Nick and was sipping it quietly. "Didn't have time to unruin my hair, though."
Nick laughed. “Two hours wasn’t long enough?” he teased. He smiled at Cas for a moment before clearing his throat. “So, stopping a war from breaking out. You said you wanted me to…pin you to the wall?” Yes, that was his only suggestion about the “fight” that Nick could remember from their conversation at dinner.
Cas nodded. "I'd pin you, but then they'd know it was fake." He spoke with his hands a bit, flourishing one for emphasis. "I'm too short for that to work. You could like, grip the front of my shirt and slam me against the wall. Don't worry about being too rough; I'll be fine."
“Okay, and then what? Just act really angry? Spit in your face? I’m assuming we’d both rather I don’t punch you or anything, though,” he added, thinking. “That would definitely be noticeable.”
"I mean, yeah. I'm sure someone would try to break it up pretty quickly, though." Cas touched his hair again, frustrated with its stiffness. "We have to decide what we're hypothetically fighting about, though."
“Maybe one of us made an off-handed insult and the other person got really offended by it? Then person B insults person A back, and that makes person A angry so an insulting match continues until it gets really heated and then…yeah,” Nick suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Cas yawned again, sipping his coffee. "I hate traveling… I'm always so tired all the time."
Nick laughed lightly. “I don’t,” he said. “I like getting to see so many different places and meet so many interesting people and try delicious food. It’s kind of fun, in a way.”
"I mean, yeah, that stuff's cool and all, but… it'd probably be more fun if I didn't constantly feel like I'm about to drop to the ground." Cas laughed, resting his head on his knuckles.
“Point taken,” Nick responded with a laugh. “Maybe it’d help if you had less draining traveling companions? No offense to Jane, but on the days she’s particularly talkative it’s a bit draining. Same with my father, anytime he talks. Also full offense.”
Cas nodded. "Yeah, all my dad does is nag, nag, and nag some more… and when he's not nagging at me, he gets his little advisor friends to do it for him. 'Oh, Cas, your hair is a mess! Comb it this instant! Is this how you're representing our kingdom?' 'Tuck your shirt in, Cas, or I'll whip you again!' It's just a pain, really. I'm never allowed to relax."
Nick winced. “That sounds awful. I know my father wants the best for me, but his idea of the best isn’t exactly the same as mine. I think that he tries to live vicariously through me sometimes, because his own life didn’t turn out how he wanted it to.” Nick truly believed his father cared about him, in his own strange way, although what King Darius deemed was best for Nick was all too often the same as what was best for King Darius himself. He also happened to like Cas’s hair as it was naturally, but didn’t say that, instead blushing again.
"Yeah. My father's kinda angry sometimes. He makes up for all the bitching my mother never did." Cas sighed, looking down into his coffee cup. "I mean, I'm seventeen. I feel like I should be allowed to at least give input in the decision making of our kingdom, right?"
“Right,” Nick repeated with a nod. “If you need an escape, I’d rather spend time with you then be surrounded by the annoying nobles my dad forces me to hang out with.
"Ditto… we should come to meet here more often." Cas suggested, fixing his eyes on Nick. "It's nice and quiet."
Nick nodded. “It is. I really could use some more of that in my life. I really hope that our plan works and they don’t pass if it as teenage hormones or something equally idiotic.”
"Yeah… I don't think our fathers will actually try to stop it. They might encourage it, actually, but your sister or someone else will break it up."
“Jane’s always been a peacemaker,” Nick agreed. “If anyone will stop it, it’s her. My dad won’t give two shits unless it makes him look bad.”
Cas nodded. "What's it like having siblings? I've always been an only child."
“It’s nice, mostly,” Nick told Cas. He steepled his fingers on the table in front of him. “It kind of sucks, though, since Jane’s obviously his favorite. Kind of makes me feel inferior.” He laughed, though his heart wasn’t really in it.
"Yeah… I suppose being an only child sometimes has its perks, but you're always alone, and the heat is constantly on you and you alone." Cas tapped his fingers anxiously. "There's a lot of pressure to succeed."
“I’ll bet,” Nick agreed. “At least having a sister means having someone to share the pressure with. Though I know my dad wishes she were the older one, so she could inherit the throne. At least we have each other though now, right?”
Cas blushed a bit, but nodded. "It's kinda weird to think that you and I are gonna be the leaders of our respective kingdoms soon."
Nick made a face. “Yeah, definitely weird. Maybe we can actually get everyone to stop fighting.” He secretly wished that Jane could just be the queen so that he could do as he pleased, but unless he died that wasn’t going to happen, since Horaan law stated it was always the eldest child who would get the crown.