Lucien was in his own room, but he wasn't sleeping. He sat awake, poring through the lawbooks that he had taken from the royal library, trying to find a solution to this mess, short of abdication. He didn't want to abandon his country, and he didn't want to push the burden onto René.
Aki, even though he was curled up comfortably, couldn't sleep. All he could do was stare sadly at the ring that sat on his bedside table. He sighed deeply and turned away from it, his ears flattening across his head as he tried his hardest to sleep.
He paged through book after book, unable to bring himself to go to sleep. He desperately needed to find a way to fix this mess.
Aki finally pulled himself out of bed and out of his room. His master had always taken walks whenever he couldn't sleep, so Aki figured, it might help for him to do the same. He found himself in front of Lucien's door and he hesitated before knocking.
Lucien answered the door after a few seconds, blinking at Aki. "Oh. I…I thought you left." He said, reaching out to pull Aki into a desperate hug.
Aki fell into his arms and shook his head. "I fell asleep…" He murmured quietly. "At my masters grave…" He nuzzles into Lucien's shoulder. Yes… yes this felt right.
He nodded slightly, pressing his face to Aki's hair. "I didn't think to look there, I'm sorry." he said quietly, holding Aki close.
Aki shrugged. "It's a distance from the castle…" He murmured softly, curling closer into Lucien. "Why are you still up? It's nearly four in the morning." He whispered into Lucien's shoulder.
"I was…I was looking at the legalities. About us. Marriage." he replied softly.
He paused at that. "You know that… you have to produce an heir… marry a woman." He whispered. "Did you find anything?" He asked quietly, a little hope flittering in his words.
"I don't know." he rubbed his forehead tiredly. "It's all in this legal shit."
Aki nods slowly. "Why don't you take a break?" He asks gently. "Get some sleep… I'll rest with you if that helps? You won't be able to find anything if you're tired."
"I…okay." he said softly, yawning tiredly.
He gently guides the other to his bed, smiling softly. Once he made sure that Lucien was tucked in, Aki slid in bed next to him, curling into Lucien's chest.
Lucien wrapped his arms around Aki, holding him close.
Aki smiled and kissed his cheek gently. "We'll figure this out… together." He murmured softly, his hand running through Lucien's hair.
"We will." he whispered back. "We will."
"Like we always do…" He whispers, leaning into Lucien's shoulder. "I love you so much, my darling prince."
He smiled slightly. "I love you too."
Aki kissed his forehead before slowly dozing off.
He started to fall asleep as well.
(Time skip?)
(yeah sure. to morning?)
(Yeah, that works)
(alright, want me to do it?)