“Do you know if they found the body?” He buried his anger for now. When he was alone, writing down what happened to him, he would be free to think this through more expressively.
He knew who was trying to clear the throne. Johan, the warrior, was trying the clear the throne for himself, but he didn’t have the guts to get his hands dirty. The bastard. Unless there was something else going on he didn’t know about.
"They did." After half a minute more of stressing, he took Levi's hand carefully. "But… he was nearly unrecognizable. His betrothed said even she could not be sure it was him. They identified him based on his rings and where he was."
Levi absently nodded, his gaze flickering down to their hands. “They all must be devastated,” he muttered, and then after a handful of more moments spent mourning his own “death,” he spoke again. “I’m ready to go back to the room now.”
Fiori squeezed his hand comfortingly and nodded. "Alright. I'm going to lead you to the rooms and get you set up and my desk, and then I'll come back an hour later. Does that still sound good to you?"
“Yes, that still sounds good,” he agreed, squeezing his hand back. Writing the truth, and what really happened sounded more preferable than ruminating on a rumor, a lie. His distaste for his brother rose, and now clouded any good memory he had with him. Not only did he hurt the people closest to him by bringing in needless grief, but he also killed, or had someone kill an innocent man in a horrendous, cruel manner. It sickened him.
Fiori frowned. Levi was brooding, and he seemed so upset over the loss of the prince. The kind of upset that only came from losing a close friend or a lover. Still, he didn't press, he just quietly led Levi through the halls and gave him concerned little looks. "Alright." He had switched back to his own language. "You know… I hold no grudge against the Widonian princes. I would not mind if you had been… acquainted with one."
Levi followed beside him with his gaze glued to the ground, at least until Fiori spoke again, and he looked up. It took him a moment to translate what he was meaning, and then to formulate the response he wanted to go with— without revealing his identity. “Oh, the eldest prince and I were…uh, I guess one might say we were well acquainted.” As acquainted as any person might be with themself.
Fiori nodded. "Then I am sorry you've lost a friend. But… not all is lost, Leviticus. You have your Mordecai and Marya. You will make it back to them, even if the prince isn't there to greet you too."
“Indeed,” he replied, “I believe I would have suffered a more personal loss if they had been killed. So I’ll be thankful that they’re still alive. And I’m looking forward to bringing the illegal traders to justice.”
Fiori nodded, taking one last turn and opening the door to his room. "As am I. There is no greater pleasure than bringing a corrupt man to justice. You'll find pens and ink in the top left drawer of the desk."
Levi agreed in a nod, peering into the room as he stepped inside. “Perfect,” he went over to the desk and took a seat, opening the top drawer to pick out a pen and ink. “And where is the paper?”
"Bottom left. I'm going to leave you now, I'll be back in an hour." Fiori stayed long enough to watch Levi find the paper, and then he shut the door and left for the kitchens.
(time skip?)
(Yep, to after an hour?)
(Ye! Do you want me to start?)
(Yes please!)
(Cool, I'll have it up in a couple minutes.)
Fiori took his time wandering back to the room, humming scraps of song and pausing every few seconds to check the little box of snacks Cadmus had given him to take to Levi. He was stumbling, leaning up against the walls for balance, and when he tossed the door to his rooms open there was a soft flush starting to creep across his face. This may or may not have something to do with the nearly empty bottle of whiskey clenched in his fist. "Leviticus!!"
Levi had just put the pen back in the ink when he sharply looked up to Fiori at the sound of his name. He blinked, eyes glancing to the bottle of whiskey, then back to Fiori’s face. An amused half smile appeared on his face, “Fiori…are you drunk?” He lightly chuckled.
"Maybe." He smiled, bright and uncomplicated, and set the whiskey down on his dresser with a loud thunk. He hadn't meant to do it so hard. He also couldn't bring himself to care. "I have a present for you! Lotsa chocolate, Cads helped me pick it out!" He pushed the box into Levi's hands. "Open it!!"
“Oh, thank you” he laughed, took the box and opened it, peering inside at the chocolate. “This looks delicious,” he grinned, and picked up one of the pieces to examine it. Perhaps they had similar chocolates in his country.
There were a couple different kinds, but the piece Levi picked up was a little chocolate ball filled with caramel. Fiori's whole face lit up when Levi laughed and he cheered quietly, wandering over to collapse on the bed.
Levi took a bite out of the chocolate, his expression melting at the taste. “Mm…this is so good,” he said with his mouth still full. He looked over at Fiori on the bed, and put the rest of the chocolate piece in his mouth. “Looks like you had a good time.”
"Mmhmm," Fiori agreed, face buried in the pillows. "Kitchen party. Lotsa fun stuff" He gestured vaguely behind him at the whiskey bottle. "Someone said drinking contest. I think 'm drunk."
“I think you’re drunk too,” he laughed. “Did you drink almost that whole bottle?” He grinned, glancing over at the whiskey on the desk. He took his paper and folded it into a half, resting it on his knee for now. Based on how drunk he was, he would probably let him sober up before giving it to him.
Fiori hummed again, wrapping his arms around one of the pillows. "Course I did. I had to win the contest. Or… actually, Denali might've won, but I at least got second which is good." He frowned, turning over so he could look Levi in the eye. "That is good right??"