forum "Run away with me" (OxO closed)

Started December 03, 2022 by @AnxietyGremlin group

tune

"Yes really!" She said. She watched the clock for a moment before standing. "We should leave now. We have about 10 minutes" She said nonchalantly. She walked towards the door, and waited for the prince. She could leave without him but she wanted to be polite by waiting.
When the prince made it over to her, she opened the door and they started on their way. They walked in silence for a while. She didn't know what to say. She was a little excited actually. She was absolutely delighted that the prince had confided in her, even if it was something small, and even more so that he had actually thought about a plan to do something with her. Especially something she enjoyed. It meant that she was making progress. That he was starting to confide in her. She was proud that her lack of people skills could even get the prince to talk to her.
Even though she didn't care about his status. She didn't care about him being a prince, or even her charge.
She cared that he was a person. That he was beginning to accept her into his life, and she hoped that she could be there for him. That she could be his friend.
She knew that he didn't have any.
And she knew what it was like. She had a friend when she worked under her dad. His name was Myles. He had gone adventuring shortly after she had gotten the audience with the king. She hadn't seen him since. She hoped that he would be okay. She missed him, and felt horrible every day. She had given him the idea. They had plans when they were little to be the greatest adventuring duo the world had ever seen. When she got the job with the royal family, he had left to go adventuring on his own.
It didn't help that the prince's kind nature reflected Myles' so beautifully.

Alec snapped out of his thoughts when Azami announced it was time to leave. He gave her an awkward shy smile. He always had a fear of talking too much as he was always hushed by the higher-ups. He hadn't done much talking with Azami and yet he felt like he had said too much.
"Of course. Right," He got up and followed Azami, giving her a small nod when she waited and then opened the door. Alec also seemed at a loss for words, not knowing what else to talk about. He could be a good talker, even charmer when he wanted to, but sometimes the cat got his tongue.
"Do you miss the place you were at before you came here?" He started. He figured he'd ask more about her history to get to know her a little better. She had mentioned the others not liking her so he wondered if she regretted coming here. Besides, it's not like there was anything special about him. Everyone knew his business, it being no secret to those who worked there or kept up with the royal family. There was nothing left to say except talk about his fantasies and it was too early for that.
As they drew nearer to their destination Alec sighed.
Truth be told, Alec didn't like the exercise that came with the early morning. He was not a fan, as he was not a morning person either, but sometimes the exercises would include sharpening his skills of fighting, and that he was interested in. Had the program not had any of the sorts, he would skip it altogether. He knew he had to be fit should anything happen, but there were plenty of ways to do that than the boring routines they had which he mulled over when it came time to do them.

She turned her attention to him when he spoke, instead of the ground that had been so interesting since they left. She felt a twinge of sadness thinking about the answer to his question.
"Sometimes. I miss my family back home every now and then, but I know me having this job makes it so I can provide for them" She spoke as though there was more than one person in her family. It was just her and her dad, since her mother died in childbirth. Her dad took it really hard, but did everything he could to provide a good life for her. She was grateful. And now, working at the palace and being at the service of the prince, she could repay the favor.
She kept walking, staring at the floor. The silence was not at all comfortable. It was tense. It was as though there was a cloud in the air. A thick cloud that took all the words she wanted to say and condensed them until there was nothing left.
As they rounded the corner to the training hall, she smiled. She hoped that it would lift her spirits just a bit.
She knew that he hated conditioning. She would to. It was the same boring routine every single day. The occasional sparing but other then that a lame workout.
She always stuck around and watched. Just because it was better than wandering, and she usually accompanied the prince to all of his affairs, conditioning, meetings, interviews, jury duty. Unless he specifically asked her not to be there, she was there, because according to her job, he was her number one priority.

Alec nodded at her answer. It was then that he was reminded that not everyone despised their family. Alec's mother was nice and he loved her to death, but his father made him want to get away. It was always something in the back of his mind when he thought about leaving the kingdom altogether. Where would she go? Alec would not leave her here to stay with the monster. Who knows what he might do to her, maybe accuse her of the reason he had left. It was the one thing that held him back, yet his imagination knew no limit.

"That's very kind of you," Alec said. Giving back to a family that raised you in warmth, he would have done the same if he had been born into such a family. But Alec couldn't give his mother or father something they already had. Any attempts at trying to find something to present them with for their birthday were crushed by his father, yet graciously received by his mother even though he knew it wasn't something that could compete with the lavish dresses and porcelain sculptures commissioned.
Still, he tried.
Alec walked towards the doors that led to the hall and opened them. He looked at the two familiar faces he trained with every day since the death of his friend. They were soldiers, some of the people that his father had introduced to him to get to know recently. They were experienced in the art of war and gave Alec a run for his money since he was inexperienced in that area. Alec was pretty good at sword fighting, but he lacked strength, he wasn't built like the other two.
He turned to Azami and gave her a small smile and bowed slightly. If his father saw him doing that he would have probably had a stroke right then and there as the royal family bowed to no one. It was a rule that had been put in place by his father. For what reason? Alec didn't know, maybe to retain dignity, but Alec could care less about any of that. He'd bow when he felt like someone deserved it. Azami had done a lot for him in those days of depression. She was more than worth it as she kept serving him well.

Azami smiled and bowed back as he walked away. She walked towards the raised pathway nearby and leaned on the railing as she watched his conditioning. As she watched, she got lost in her own thoughts. Why had he bowed to her. The royal family bows to no one. Especially not a servant. She thought about Myles. And her dad. She thought about Prince Alec. And the king and queen.
The Queen had been so good to her. She didn't want her to have the job with the prince, but was happy to give her a job around the castle. She was kind, and polite when Azami interacted with her. Azami always made sure her occasional service for the Queen was fast and efficient, so as not to keep such a gentle lady waiting.

What if you left? She asked herself. She thought to herself and imagine how fun it would be. Then she talked herself out of it. Where would she go? What about the prince? What about her father. So many thoughts swimming in her head.

Alec tried his best to keep up when it came to sword fighting, still, even though he knew he wasn't the best at it, he tried his hardest to give them a tough time. His high horse suddenly came tumbling down when he saw the smile on the other's face. This was nothing to them and they were only being generous with him as he was the prince. The realization hit him like a brick. He knew they served the kingdom but he never thought they would hold back. Maybe his father had instructed them to do so. He gritted his teeth as he was thrown back, sliding slightly on the marble floor. Alec quickly got up and tried his hand again at taking the other down, but it only came down to the same result.

The majority of the time, Alec would not let up. He didn't want to do any other exercises until he at least saw the other struggle. He didn't need to beat him, though, he would have liked to, but that was far from his control right now. He would need to practice a lot more if he wanted to be just as great. For now, though, he would be satisfied if he at least wiped the smile off of the soldier.
Once it was over, and the entire time had been spent fighting, Alec sat down on the floor, tired from exerting his muscles. He looked over at Azami who seemed to be lost in thought, then got up and headed back to her.

"Do you think I have time to change? What time is the next thing on my schedule?" He questioned. His clothes were white, but they were not proper and he needed to look right when consulting with his father about kingdom matters.
Alec's face was flushed from the exercise and the clothes stuck to him with the minimal sweat he had shed. He wanted to get out of the clothes fast as he was not a fan of feeling wet while having clothes on. It was a texture thing that made him want to crawl out fo his skin.

She didn't notice him walking up to her, so when he start speaking she jumped and squeaked just a little. She turned to him and figured she should probably answer his question. "Yes. you should have time. Your next responsibility isn't until 10." She said as they began walking towards his room. Silence. Again. She had nothing to say.

(sorry it's short I'm in class.)

(All good! it's late over here so my reply will be short as well since i'm very tired, but hopefully, i'll reply with longer responses after this)

Alec nodded when she confirmed that he had time. He didn't say anything else as he felt like maybe he was intruding a little too much into Azami's personal life, besides it wasn't his job to ask about their personal lives, his father would have wanted it that way.
He sighed a little but kept a sort of tired smile on his face.
When they got to his room, he immediately got out of his clothes and took another shower. This one was a quick shower as he was used to showering multiple times in the day for different occasions. Once out of the shower he put on more proper clothes that showed his status as royalty.
He had Azami wait outside for him as he wasn't the biggest fan of someone looking at him even after he had gotten out.
Alec messed with the cuff of his sleeve as he came out of his room.
"Do we have time to spare, or is it time already?" He asked. He thought maybe taking a walk through the garden with Azami might be nice, though, it seemed like she did a lot of walking on her own, but maybe the company would be nice.

"Yes we do actually. You showered a lot faster than I thought you would. What would you like to do?" She replied. She was used to him showering 2-4 times a day. After conditioning, before a big event, whatever the reason. But he still manages to surprise her with his speed.
She waited for him to begin walking before following him, planning to go wherever he wanted. "We have about an hour and a half before your meeting with your father. Would you like me to attend, or to wait for you to call me if you need anything?" She asked. She wasn't sure if the king would want her there, so she usually asked Prince Alec before every meeting.
She knew if he wanted her to attend she would have to change and shower again. She always had to look fancy in front of the king. Just like the king's personal servants, and the queens handmaiden, She always had to put on nice clothes, but not too nice to outshine the royal family.

(sorry. I'm in class again and i don't know what else to put)

Alec gave an awkward smile at her comment.
"Yeah, I suppose I do shower rather quickly. I rather leave baths and longer showers for when I'm in more of a relaxed state." He said humming softly afterward.
Ah yes. The meeting with his father. How could he forget? It was the one thing that stood out to him about the entire schedule, something he was dreading.
"An hour and a half…hmmm…" He thought for a moment. "Perhaps you can show me to the kitchen? And we can make something small and quick while we wait? I would very much like to know to make Amandine desserts, they're my favorites" He said, a smile now on his face as he thought about eating pastries. He loved pastries, not going overboard with them, he didn't like sweetness that stuck to the back of his throat and made it itch. But Amandines was the love of his life. He'd have them for breakfast lunch and dinner if he could.
When Azami mentioned accompanying him to meet the king he froze. In a way, he didn't like that idea at all. He wanted to protect her even though she wasn't Vixen. It would get a lot of getting used to not comparing the two. It felt disrespectful as they were two different people, but he couldn't help it.
"If you would like to accompany me that would be fine" He lied. He didn't want her accompanying him, but it was her decision if she wanted to. He wouldn't put the rules of a dead girl on top of Azami.

(you're all good! i'm not quite sure either)

"That's a wonderful idea!" She said cheerfully. She loved the idea of showing someone how to do something she enjoyed. They walked toward the kitchen and she started getting out ingredients.
She was trying to get something from a higher shelf, but cursed her genetics because she was short. "Can you get that please" She asked politely as she stepped back, knowing she couldn't get it and was making a fool of herself by just reaching.
While he was getting the ingredient, she pulled out bowls and other dishes they would need. She turned on the oven and gathered all the ingredients.
"So this is what you need.." She began, walking him through the ingredients. She payed close attention to everything they were doing as she showed him how. This was a recipe her father had used when she was young

Alec watched Azami, noting every movement and the ingredients she picked out. To be honest he had no idea what any of them were but he tried to remember the names on the bottles. He figured that if he did at least that, it might stick and he could do some by himself later.
When Azami spoke, asking if he could reach something from the top of a shelf, he stifled a laugh.
"Yes, of course," He cleared his throat to cover up the fact that he thought it was slightly amusing to him to see her struggling.
After bringing it down he kept watching, looking at everything that was laid out in front of them. Bowls and spoons of different sizes- those seemed a little confusing as they had weird numbers on them, he had never been good at math and it seemed like cooking required it. He had read several books on cooking back when he was younger before his father had taken them away from him and there was a lot that went into it, he figured it was the same with baking, just a little more delicate.
Alec got a little closer to Azami when she started to instruct him on what she did.
"Wish I could take notes, but I think I'll have to memorize everything…" He muttered to Azami, though he was mostly talking to himself. Alec seemed concentrated as he watched how Azami did things, when, and how she poured things in.
In a separate bowl, Alec copied Azami, it came out a little sloppy and he was a mess by the end of it, but his batter looked similar to hers, except for the fact that he forgot to add one simple ingredient, something that had slipped him when he was busy mixing everything.
What Alec didn't realize was that he didn't have time to change after this and being covered in flour and other things were not ideal when meeting the king. He had gotten too caught up in his own excitement to notice or even care to be careful.

Azami laughed a bit at the mess he made. What was baking without a mess? She watched him closely, to make sure he didn't mess it up to badly. He did okay though, for this being his first time. She put her batter in a pan and put it in the oven. "We have to wait about 30 minutes. Your a mess though. Do you want to shower while this bakes?"
She said, hoping if he showered while it baked, then he would have time. She waited for an answer as she started cleaning up the kitchen. Abel would surely have her head if she left a mess. Besides, she liked leaving things better then she found them.
She took a rag and wiped down the countertops. She put all the dishes in the sink, and the ingredients back where she found them. "Can you put this back first?" She asked, placing an ingredient on the counter beneath the shelf it went on. She began washing the dishes. "I can stay in here while it bakes. I'll let you know when it's done."

(i apologize once again, i can only be here when I'm in class)

Alec thought about it for a while. Did he want to take a shower? He had just taken one so he thought maybe just changing his clothes would do just fine.
"I don't think I'll take a shower, but I will go change very quickly," He said, starting to walk towards the door, but being stopped by Azami's request to put some of the ingredients back. Alec complied and shelved the rest of the things that needed putting away.
"Okay, I think that should be it…" He said trailing off. He looked over to Azami and noticed she hadn't made such a big mess as he had, he mentally cringed at the fact that he was new to all of this.
"And sorry for the mess, as you can tell I'm not very good" He smiled awkwardly. "Thank you, I'll be back in a bit," He said, then hurried off to his room to change. Washing clothes was left up to others but it slightly bothered Alec that someone had to get the stains out. He should have been more careful.
If it were up to Alec, he would be washing his own clothes because it felt a little weird to be served. All his life he had been thought that he deserved to be treated as a king, which one day he would eventually become, he was taught to look down on others, but somehow it had never stuck and he had his mother to thank for that. His sweet lovely mother who he loved with all of his heart.
When Alec reached the door to his room he noticed it was slightly open. He frowned. Had he not left it closed?
Alec hesitated, then opened the door all the way, and just what he feared came true, there, in all his glory, stood his father.
"Where have you been? I heard you finished your morning routine so I came to discuss some things with you, but you were not here." He turned to Alec, freezing at the mess that he was in.
"What is that?" He asked, already disapproving. Then, as realization hit him, a disgusted look formed on his face.
"What have you been doing, Alec?"
At this moment Alec regretted coming back to his room, he should have waited a little while and talked with Azami a little more. How was he going to explain this one to him? I've been downstairs cooking with the new hire. Yes, because that would go down nicely. He just prayed Azami waited in the kitchen for him, he'd lie his way out of this mess.