Kaz cleared his throat faintly, giving Will an apologetic smile. "She wanted to know why I liked you so much. I, uh, panicked." he replied, gaze flickering away for a moment and then returning back to Will. "But it's fine. Don't worry about it." he ran a hand through Will's hair gently, giving him a soft smile.
"You? The King of the Fae, terrifying warmonger and a literal Fate panicked and told your wife that I'm pregnant?!" He swats away Kazimir's hand. "She's going to kill me!" Will cannot do anything but gape at the Snake. "What the hell were you thinking!?"
"She's not going to kill you, Will." he replied, shaking his head and clearing his throat. "Besides, she's…there's a lot of politics at work and she wouldn't accept the answer that you're pretty, because…uhm, I've had previous concubines that…were prettier, so she wouldn't accept htat answer, and it's not like I can tell her the truth."
"Prettier than–" Will sputters. "You couldn't just say you have a thing for short, green-eyed humans? There were so many options and you–?!" He fully pushes away from the Fae and buries his face in his hands. "Oh my god–" He mutters into his palms.
Kaz released Will, clearing his throat faintly. "Darling, it will be fine." he said, shifting closer to Will but not touching him again, not when the human seemed so averse to the idea. "I am sorry that I told her that, when, ah, it is not true, but…" come to think of it, how had he managed to blurt that? Fae were not supposed to be able to lie. He supposed that, perhaps, it was not technically a lie. In all their countless lifetimes, there had been ones where either one of them had been pregnant. Perhaps that bit of truth had been enough? It was still a questionable thing.
"I–" He sputters. "Oh my god–" What else is he supposed to say?! If this rumor gets out who knows what the staff would think? What the kingdom would think!? "I'm mortified." He crouches down on the floor, his head still buried in his hands. "I hate you so much."
He frowned faintly. "No you don't." he countered, crouching beside Will. "Do, ah, you need some time? We can go back to the bedroom and you can be alone for a bit, if you need." his voice was quiet and gentle. Soft. He could tell Will was very upset by this. Maybe more so than he thought right, but it was fine.
Maybe he doesn't hate Kazimir, but the Snake is far from his favorite person at the moment. "Time would be…" He sighs, dropping his hands from his face and staring off somewhere into the depths of the library. "Nice. Good? You better ensure this news doesn't get out." Will can't help but note how hot his face is.
"Come on, then." Kaz replied softly, reaching over to help Will to his feet. "It won't. Marie wouldn't gossip about it, and I certainly won't repeat it." he gave Will a light smile. "Trust me, darling. Everything will be fine. I promise." he ran a hand through his hair and started back towards the stairs in order to lead Will out of the library.
With the help of Kazimir, Will gets to his feet. His eyes don't quite meet the Snake's, unsure if his pride could truly handle it. His eyes slip shut as Kazimir runs his fingers through Will's dark hair, and he allows the king to lead him out of the library.
(sdjfs meant that Kaz was running a hand through his own hair but that works too lmao)
He was quiet as he led WIll along, out of the library and along the hallway. He was still quiet as he walked, letting Will stay in his thoughts rather than talking to him and pulling him out of those thoughts. The bedroom had clearly been cleaned while they were gone, and the bed was made. The windows were open, and a soft breeze was blowing through them.
(askdlfj oof my bad)
"It smells like flowers," Will notes upon entering the room. It may be a flimsy and silly comment, but he really needs anything to get his mind off of the horrors Kazimir had caused. He all but collapses into one of the chairs and takes in the clean room. I'll have to thank Ivan later, he notes internally.
(it's fine lol)
Kaz watched Will for a long moment, then sat down on one of the other chairs, pulling out a book and getting to work on papers and such, paging through the various papers that he had. He didn't speak, just let Will sit and think and process.
As Will sits, taking in the smell of flowers and in the calm of the bedroom, he finds his face cooling and heart rate slowing. Kazimir is probably right. Marie does not seem like the woman to spread about a rumor that her husband got his concubine he's had for two days pregnant. It will be fine. It will all be just fine. Standing after a short while, Will makes his way to the two books set neatly on the nightstand. He resumes his position in the chair and flips to where he left off in Introduction to Fae Horticulture.
Kaz continued going through his papers, humming quietly to himself as he did so. He didn't pay much attention to what Will was doing, but did keep half an eye on him. If Will left, he would follow, just to make sure that he stayed safe. He didn't want someone hurting his concubine, after all, or Will eating or touching something he shouldn't touch and then being hurt.
"What are you working on?" Will asks, taking a moment for his brain to rest from the surplus of new information. From the looks of the documents in Kazimir's hands, they look fairly important and–well–Will is a curious man. He sets the open book face-up on the end table between them to peer over the arm of his chair at the papers in the Snake's hands.
Kaz sighed faintly. "Just some paperwork." he replied, looking over at Will, then down at the book on the end table, gaze flickering over the pages in curiosity. His eyes found those handwritten notes in the margins, and his lips parted in a quick exhale as he picked it up in order to examine it closer, thumb brushing against the notes. "Where…where did you get this?" he asked, looking up at Will with something unidentifiable in his gaze.
"The library…?" Will regards the sudden change in tone from the king, unsure of really how to feel. Did he have a sudden change of heart and suddenly found horticulture insanely fascinating? No… No, that doesn't make sense. "It's an interesting book. Did something catch your eye?" Perhaps the diagrams? Those are always fascinating to ponder.
"I know this handwriting." he said quietly, suddenly standing and moving over to his desk, opening drawer after drawer, paging through paper after paper until finally, tucked in the bottom of a drawer, he pulled out an old paper, yellowed with age, and carefully unfolded it, setting it down and comparing it to the writing in the book.
Will stands and hurries to Kazimir's side, looking around his arm at the letter and book. He compares the two, noting the identical scrawl and swoop and scratch of the quill. Without a doubt, they're the same author. "Who is it?" Will inquires. "Whoever they are, they're extremely knowledgeable in botany."
"They…" he trailed off, exhaling faintly. "They were a good friend." he replied, voice quiet as he stared at the handwriting for a long, long moment, his gaze soft and faraway, and then he shook his head quickly and looked over at Will. "It's…been a long time." it had been years since they died.
"Oh." Will glances at the Snake with something akin to… sympathy perhaps? Within those crimson eyes there's true pain. His curiosity urges him to ask how Kazimir's friend had died. The humanitarian part of him keeps his voice silent. Slowly, Will ropes an arm around Kazimir's side and leans into him, some semblance of an embrace.
It was always so difficult for Kaz to find people he trusted. People he cared about. Every lifetime, most people abandoned him or betrayed him or hurt him. The only exception, usually, was Will. The Martyr. But every now and then, he would have the fortune to find someone who, despite any other flaws, was a true friend. That was what Lanos had been. Perhaps the worst part of these neverending cycles of rebirth was that the rare friendships he managed to hold onto always, always ended before his death came, and even once he was reborn, a part of him always mourned. He leaned into Will with a soft exhale, closing his eyes. His fingers still lingered on the book's pages.
After a moment of silence, sensing the sadness ebbing from Kazimir's soul, Will sighs. "What were they like?" Will asks quietly, bringing his other arm to wrap around Kazimir's front. "If you… If you feel comfortable sharing." Will, at least in this lifetime, has never… felt loss. The only people he ever truly cares for are his parents, both of them healthy despite their declining age. His peers had always been less than kind.
Kaz shrugged faintly. "They were…the closest thing I've had to a friend in this lifetime." he replied in a soft tone. "They died while I was…while I was a prisoner." he shook his head very slightly. "I never…I never got to say goodbye." that was the part that hurt the most, maybe.