“I am absolutely certain. You have done nothing wrong,” Arquis repeated gently.
He stepped forward again, having shaken away his nerves, and smiled at them. Then, he tentatively held out his good hand. If they allowed it, he wanted to hold his hand. It was a much smaller gesture than kissing or, well, what they had mentioned, but he wanted to show that he trusted him. They hadn’t overstepped. When he had shown signs of distress, they had immediately backed off.
Rin took Arquis's hand, slow and soft and gentle. "Alright." they said, lacing their fingers with Arquis's. "As long as you are sure that you are quite alright." they took a step closer, but not so close as to get in Arquis's bubble. They left the nobleman his space, as much as they thought was necessary.
“I am,” Arquis insisted, lightly running his thumb over one of their knuckles. Not for the first time, he wished he wasn’t wearing the glove. It would have likely meant more if he could’ve actually touched them. “As I said, it was just a bit much in the moment. I did not intend to worry you, though I must say that your concern is admittedly quite sweet.”
He waited for a few seconds longer before finally letting their hand go. As much as he wanted to continue, he was still feeling a tiny bit woozy from the sudden flare up of panic. He nodded reassuringly at him and gestured towards their bags.
“Perhaps we should get moving. We will have quite a lot of time to chat in the carriage.”
"It is only that I…I understand being…" Rin trailed off, shaking their head. "I understand the panic. That…that mentions of sex can cause. Even if the root of it, for me, is…is different than for you." they cleared their throat faintly, looking away and searching for their boots, which they got to work to put on.
His jaw clenched, though not out of anger at them. He loathed whoever had made Rin panic at the mention of sexual intimacy. It was likely that man, the one that he’d been told about after their nightmare. The one who he desperately wished that he could punish.
He didn’t say any of that; it wouldn’t have helped. Instead, he went still, watching him as he put on their boots.
“Rin, if you ever feel that panic when around me—whether it be because of something I do or say—would you please let me know? It will let me know when to give you space. I find it very important that you know that you always have a choice in the matter.”
Rin cleared their throat faintly, his eyes flashing over to Arquis as he took in the man's words. "I…I will." they said in a quiet tone. "Thank you, Arquis." he finished lacing up his boots. They did not always get panicked about sex or even during it, but sometimes the wrong touch or the wrong words would bring his mind snapping back to everything Lysander had done.
“Of course.”
Unless they continued the discussion, he was not going to push the subject any further. As worried as he was about crossing lines or causing bad memories to resurface, he trusted Rin to tell him if something was wrong. There was no sense in forcing him to relive anything right now.
He lifted his suitcases, wincing slightly at their weight. They hadn’t changed since the day before, yet they felt so much heavier. He propped one up on his hip as he looked around the room, making sure they hadn’t left anything of value. Everything seemed in order.
Rin straightened up once they were done with their boots, and shouldered their bag and picked up their lute. "We will be walking how far?" they asked, wanting to know if they would be spending a night sleeping beneath the stars, or if their next destination was within walking distance from here.
“The inn that we are going to is about a full day away from where we are now. I believe we can take carriages for most of that trip. Most drop-off points for carriage services, however, are other villages, and because the inn is not actually in a village, we will have to get out at some point. That means we will likely be walking for an hour if close, possibly an hour and a half if not.”
He thumbed the handle of his suitcase, looking lost in thought. “We will likely not need an excuse for wanting to leave the carriage. Most of the regular carriage drivers for this route will be used to people occasionally stopping to go to the inn. As long as we pay nicely, they should move along without giving us trouble.”
Rin nodded slowly. "Are the carriages safe? Will the drivers tell investigators where to find us?" They asked, adjusting their bag as they came a bit closer to Arquis. His ring was on his finger, the jewel on it glinting softly in the light. His hair was still messy, and their eyes were soft and unguarded.
Arquis shook his head. “They never ask the names of passengers, and most see so many faces a day that they learn to tune them out. Even if they wanted to tell investigators anything, they would not be able to. We will be perfectly alright if we act casual.”
He yawned slightly and gave them what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Physically, he probably looked a little rough around the edges, but that would work to their advantage. Nobody would expect a member of a wealthy family to dress so informally or carry their own bags.
They nodded a little bit. "Alright, that's perfect, then." he said softly, returning the smile. "Shall we get going, maybe?" they reached out to open the door, their hair falling across their forehead. "We get to sit in a carriage for hours, we shall have plenty of time to talk there."
Arquis walked through the open door and back down the way they’d came. He stopped to give the keys to the front desk worker, who was a woman with plaited hair. She beamed at him and asked if their room needed any special cleaning services. It took him a second to see the scene through her eyes. They appeared to be two young, presumably married, slightly disheveled men leaving a hotel after spending the night together. She probably assumed that they’d engaged in certain activities. He accepted, flustered, and quickly pulled Rin out into the street. Her laughter chased him out the door. Good; let her assume that they were a very involved couple. That would work in their favor.
Luckily for them, there was a carriage stop relatively close to the hotel, which made a fair amount of sense economically. The carriages were of a special sort. Their seating compartments had panels that could be closed up when it was cold or rainy, and the insides were relatively comfy. Most of them had polished red exteriors marked with company names in gold.
Arquis paid the driver a hefty sum, telling him their destination, before coming around to open the door for Rin. He bowed as he did it and pressed a kiss to their knuckles. The show of romance would dissuade others from joining them, he hoped.
Rin laughed as they left, smiling over at Arquis as the two made their way over to the carriage that awaited them. "Thank you." he said, stepping up into the carriage, then reaching down their hand to help Arquis up, returning the kiss with one of their own to the nobleman's knuckles.
Arquis followed them in, ducking because of his height. Once the door was closed, the driver readied the animals, and the vehicle set forward at an even pace.
There was a ring of plush seats lining the inside of the carriage, and it seemed as if the compartment was somehow heated. Arquis pushed his suitcases into place under a chair and eased himself into it. He was glad they didn’t have to walk for a while. Though he felt much better than he had the previous night, he was still rather stiff and sore.
“We will have to transfer to a different carriage at some point, but we do have a couple of hours before that will occur. How would you like to spend them?” he asked Rin.
Rin stowed his own bag, carefully setting his lute aside and then sitting down beside Arquis, laying their arm along the back of the seat. "Mm, we could just talk?" he suggested, shrugging a shoulder. "I don't know. If you're tired, you could probably get some more sleep, provided you can sleep in a carriage." he was not capable of sleeping in a moving carriage; he had tried, in the past, but just never could.
“No, no, I have slept plenty, and besides, I would much rather spend the time awake with you.” His grin was easy and boyish, bordering on flirtatious. It shifted into something softer. “Talking would be nice. We could continue our conversation from earlier, if you would like. I have a lot more that I would like to learn about you.”
He spotted their arm around the back of the seat and leaned into it, tipping his head onto their shoulder. He wasn’t cold, really, but shivered anyways. It was an attempt to get them to move closer, to put his arm around him instead of the chair.
Rin did indeed wrap their arm around Arquis's shoulder, smiling softly as they looked over at him. "Yes, continuing our conversation sounds nice." they agreed in a soft tone, leaning over to press a kiss to Arquis's cheek. "Whose turn was it to ask a question?" they raised his eyebrows slightly.
Arquis was thrilled that his little plan had worked. He snuggled against them and made a quiet humming sound. “I am not sure. Yours, perhaps?”
He tried to return their kiss, but he was at a strange angle, so he ended up having to kiss his jaw instead of their cheek. He stayed there for a second, brushing his lips against their jawline. Finally, he settled back into his previous position.
He hummed very faintly, thinking about what they could ask Arquis. "How long have you been painting? I mean, when did it first become your hobby?" they asked, tipping their head as they looked at the nobleman.
“I used to take lessons when I was rather young, and I had a few strict yet excellent instructors that taught me to enjoy art. I am not sure exactly how old I was when that happened.”
Arquis couldn’t remember the first painting he’d made. There were a few that he recalled struggling with as a child—one was of a blue flower, and he’d nearly cried after struggling to match the exact shade—but he had no clue when he’d actually started his lessons. It probably hadn’t been a special day. Just another lecture to attend, another teacher to impress.
“Do you remember when you began playing the lute?”
They nodded, taking in what Arquis had said. "I have always enjoyed music. I started to play the lute specifically at…I believe ten years old." they gave him a soft smile, gently rubbing their thumb against Arquis's shoulder. "I wanted to learn to play it, so I did."
Arquis groaned, an unintentional, blissful smile blossoming on his lips. With his left hand, he gestured lazily to their thumb. The sensation was fantastic.
“Never stop doing that,” he sighed happily, pressing up against their hand like a satisfied cat.
It took him a beat to remember that he had answered his question, and he savored their words before giving a response. “Was there ever anything you wanted to play more than the lute? Or was that always your first choice?”
He laughed quietly, still gently rubbing their thumb along Arquis's shoulder. "I won't, I won't." he replied. "I enjoy playing the piano, as well, though it is not my strongest instrument. The lute and the guitar are probably my best instruments." they gave the nobleman a smile as they thought about Arquis's question a bit more. "I'm not sure there is anything that I wanted to play more, no."
Arquis nodded. “That is understandable. When I was really little, I also wished to play a string instrument. My father did not want me to play anything at first, but eventually he decided that I could choose between violin, cello, or the harp.”
At the mention of the harp, his expression went flat. It was almost shocking how fast his mood changed; within less than a heartbeat, he had grown distant. He did not even seem to register the sensation of their hand on his shoulder anymore. It was as if he had become a statue—he was certainly pale enough for it.