“Heh, apparently I sent him to the wrong prince. I entirely misinterpreted you for a merciless disciplinary. I wouldn’t’ve thought you would befriend him.” Johan assumed Fiori must have plotted Leviticus’ escape. He was also surprised to see his hair as long and luscious as before the abduction. “I’m… looking forward to learning the truth. Whether from him or you.”
"You seem to misinterpret a lot of things." Johan's hair would be about as long as Fiori's once it was cut. He kept his buzzed short at home, the way most military men did. It made things safer for fighting, easier. "I am not the man I appear to be on the battlefield. Few people are." Johan was quick in battle, sneakier than he would've guessed but also aggressive. Willing to fight dirty. In person he was softer, less aggressive. All he did was fight dirty. "I'm sure the story will be relayed to you some time, but not by me."
“Like I said before, I take things as I see them. I assume everyone else does the same.” Johan recognized the halls as they got gradually closer to the ballroom. He felt a nervous ache in his chest, but he passed it off as pain from the bruising. Gingerly, he brought up a hand to touch his hair. It was almost dried now, but it wouldn’t matter within the next hour. “I’ll speak to my brother, then.”
Fi kept his pace even as they approached the ballroom but he paused in front of the door, waiting. Giving Johan a few minutes to gather himself before they stepped inside. "I am of the belief that attempting to understand people through your perspective instead of theirs is one of the easiest ways to disappoint both parties. You're smart, Johan. You recognize things. You have to understand how different people are from you."
Johan’s lips wavered while they waited outside the door. How could he imagine being in another person’s perspective when he wasn’t that other person? He swung his head back and forth with what little range of motion he had. “I don’t want to speak of this anymore,” he snapped, “Not now.”
"Then later." He took Johan's chin in his hand, turning him so they were eye to eye. His grip was still so gentle, an attempt to keep from Johan even farther. "This is important. You can't stop having a conversation because you don't like it." Johan had to learn how to survive like a slave instead of a prince. If Fiori could teach him nothing else he would teach him this, to make sure he could make it through his sentence without getting himself killed. "Now… I believe it is time for the ceremony to start. Are you ready?"
Johan tossed his chin away, glaring back at Fiori. “I think I at least have a right to what I use my words for.” For the last month that was how it was in the palace. Whatever Johan thought, he said, and whatever he would said was accepted by everyone else. But that was how things used to be. Now they were different. “And no. Not really. But I suppose you’ll drag me in anyways.”
"That's… a rather indelicate way of putting it, but you are not incorrect." He kept his hold on Johan steady, but he really didn't have to bother. It wasn't like he could go anywhere, not in his condition. "It wouldn't be dragging you as much as it would be carrying. But… I digress. I can still give you a few minutes, if you would like."
“No, I won’t put it off any longer if I have no plan to escape,” he inhaled. Plotting escape would come while he was healing. So that when he was recovered he could fight his way out. From the sound of muffled conversation inside it sounded like some people had already arrived.
Fiori nodded and pushed the door open, quickly spotting the chair Levi had provided for Johan. He set the prince down gently. He felt like he should say something to reassure him or comfort him or do anything for him but e couldn't think of anything to do, so he squeezed Johan's hand and left to talk to Levi. "Leviticus!" He was genuinely excited to see his friend. "How do you feel? Are you ready for tonight?"
Johan fell back into the chair with a grunt. He stared at the ground for a moment, and then his gaze trailed to the table beside him, “Huh.” Well, if Leviticus was going to be so careless about it, his inched his closest hand towards the shears.
“Fiori!” Levi’s expression brightened, standing up from his own chair to greet his friend. His hair was washed and conditioned, perfumed with Widonian fragrances and neatly bound in braids across his head. “I’m better than ever—get, get the shears away from Johan,” he laughed softly, nervously, and gestured towards his brother’s chair.
Fiori studied the braids with interest, trying to work out how the knots were tied just by looking at them. His eyes flicked back to Johan at Levi's reminder and he sighed, crossing the room to grab them. "I was under the impression that you would not delay this because you had no plan."
The most interesting, and Levi’s personal favorite, was the chain link braid holding the rest of his hair gathered together in the back. He reached up every once in a while to touch them, as if to make sure he was really home and not just dreaming in Usige.
“I did have a plan. Just now,” Johan hissed back, gaze darting from the shears he lost back to Fiori. “And now I don’t again.”
Fiori rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, I suppose you were just about to stab the crowned prince in front of a room of witnesses. How very well thought out." He tucked the shears into his pocket, giving Johan a hard look. "You're no fool, Johan. Stop acting like one." With that said, he crossed back to Leviticus, giving him a small smile. "Your brother… he is a handful. I am not sure I will be able to keep him from getting into mischief."
Johan glared at Fiori as he walked away, and when he was out of sight let his gaze pass over the growing group of people in the ballroom. He drummed his fingers against the armrest.
“A handful, indeed,” Levi sighed. “He always has been. And I don’t expect you to be able to. Can you keep him contained at least? Enough for him to not kill me?” He lightly chuckled.
Fi watched him glare for a second and then Levi was talking and all his attention snapped back to that one singular point. He'd never been good at multitasking, it was part of why he liked fighting so much. It was direct. You assessed, you decided on a route, and you took it with no hesitation and no distractions. He didn't seem to find anything funny about the joke, so he nodded. "Of course. I can handle Johan, just…. not quickly enough to keep him from making a mess."
Levi didn’t find it very comical either, but in the midst of a public event like like this he expressed his nervousness through humor. He brought his hands together again to continue twirling the ring around his finger. “Well, if he does happen to make any mess, you have my permission to discipline him any way you see fit.” He wouldn’t give such authority to anyone he knew would be unnecessarily cruel.
Fiori nodded but there was something bothering him. "Leviticus… what if I cannot punish him?" He knew he should if Johan did something bad. He knew he'd be expected to. Hell, he'd done it before. In the army, punishments were doled out in strikes with the whip and he'd had to do his part and give them. It left him nauseous. His uncle thought it was shameful, but Cadmus had kissed his hands when he heard. Told him he was a good man. "What if I'm the wrong choice for all of this?" The question rushed out on its own, to keep him from thinking any harder about Cadmus.
“Fiori…” Levi’s lips pulled into a heavy frown. “I think, I think you are the perfect choice because I know you won’t go to far. You saw what those guards did. But if you don’t want to do it, I won’t force you,” he furrowed his eyebrows with concern. “I can find someone else.” And then an idea, “Oh- or you could find someone else to actually dole the punishment.”
(bruhhhhh we have to have a scene where, after a while of bonding and getting close, Fi accidentally lets Johan get some chance to hurt Levi b/c they sort of trust each other now and Johan doesn't want to do it but he feels like he should and he's too proud to admit he's changing so he takes the chance and then Fi has to have him punished, shifting their relationship into a new dynamic)
Fiori didn't want someone else to take his place because he genuinely thought he could help. He didn't want other people to get their hands on Johan's life, not when he knew what they could do to him, and yet he couldn't stand the idea of hurting him either, something that would be required with his new position. When Levi brought up the idea he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and nudged their shoulder together in thanks. "Yes! Yes, that would work… well. That would work very well indeed, thank you Leviticus."
(Omggg yes!! Maybe Johan and Levi are accidentally left alone during dinner(?) together and Johan somehow gets a hold of a knife)
Levi grinned and brightly nudged him back, “You’re welcome, I’m glad I could help. Hah! After only a few hours with Mordecai I can give good advice too, now,” he chuckled. His gaze passed over the room of people, searching for the people he knew. He was almost certain Marya should be attending unless something else required her attention. Had she even heard about his return? “Ah, There! That’s Marya. Who I’m supposed to be engaged to.” He gestured to the entrance of the ballroom, to a woman with long dark hair pulled into a half braid, and a long sleeved dress with a fur collar. Not unlike what many of the other ladies in the room wore for an event like this.
(That's an excellent plan but all I can think of is that one vine…
Fi: what have you got there?
Johan: a knife)
Fi laughed and gave him a bight smile. "You always give good advice, Leviticus. I just don't ask for it enough." He scanned the room when they lapsed into silence, trying to look out across the crowd but always being drawn back to where Johan was sitting. What would he do after this? He wouldn't let Fiori take care of him, not without a fight. "I see. She's very beautiful." Fiori gave Marya a once over, though he didn't try to catch her eye or make contact lest she react to his race. "I don't suppose the engagement will be postponed on account of your fortunate return?"
(Lmao!!
Levi: Noo!)
Johan’s gaze seemed to be pulled towards Marya as well. He craned his neck to see around the crowd, but sat back in his chair with a sigh when she disappeared among the other nobles.
“I’m sure our engagement was postponed when they found my dead body. I would be surprised if she wasn’t arranged with someone else already,” Levi replied. A part of him wondered if she had been arranged with Johan. He couldn’t imagine the two of them together. “I can’t wait for you two to meet, I think you’ll like her.”
(Mordecai, in the background: how'd he get a knife?)
Fiori watched Johan search for Marya and wasn't sure why it left him feeling angry. From what he'd heard she was a very upstanding young lady. She'd be a good influence on Johan if he ever shaped up enough to accept advice from others. He laughed slightly at Levi's reply. "You do not sound very happy about that, Leviticus. I had thought you would be overjoyed. Perhaps I can meet her once this ceremony is done."
(Lolol)
Levi laughed along, “I’m glad that our engagement was postponed, but if she were to be engaged with anyone else it would be my brother. And that would just be another complication I’d have to deal with.” He couldn’t wait to catch up with the rest of his friends, to see their reactions to his return and introduce them to Fiori. “It’s almost seven,” he exhaled, glancing over at the clock.