forum The Strangers in the Palace (Closed)(Fantasy)

Started October 31, 2021 by @LovelyRose

tune

Arquis made that sound they’d liked so much the other day. Before bringing their lips together, he placed his hands over theirs and distantly realized that he was wearing gloves. He didn’t remember putting them on, but the process was muscle memory at that point. It was good, at least, that nobody else that had been in the room had seen his scars.

The first kiss was barely a kiss at all. It was lighter than a feather, just a mere touch of mouth to mouth. He didn’t waste time with teasing, however, and launched into the second kiss. His grip tightened on their hands. Not hard enough to bruise or hurt or anything of the sort, but it hinted at what was to come.

The third kiss was fast and messy. When Arquis pulled away after it, he was basically panting. He took a moment to rest his forehead against their cheek. His eyes were closed. He kissed his way down to his lips again and gave him the fourth and fifth kiss all in one go.

“Goodness,” he sighed when he was done with the sixth. The fire had made him feel warm all over, and though he wanted to pursue their lips once more, he needed a moment to breathe. “How are you feeling, love? Alright?”

Rin kissed him back happily, smiling into the kisses as the heat from the fire and the kisses drenched them. "I am feeling perfect, my darling." They whispered back, kissing Arquis's cheek gently, rubbing his hands up and down the nobleman's sides. They liked kissing their partner, liked being close to him and snuggling with him. "And what about you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows a little bit at him.

Even through all the layers he had on, Arquis could feel every movement of their hands. He tilted his head to let out a pleased groan and looped his arms around his neck. His lips were soon to follow, making a path from the hollow of their throat—which he bit very briefly—up to his mouth. That was the seventh kiss, though the eighth was extremely quick.

“It is quite- it is- it is quite a lot,” he stuttered, pressing his cheek to their shoulder. Once again, it seemed he was having trouble with his words. His grammar tutors would be mortified. “But not in a bad- not bad.”

He smiled, letting out a quiet sound at the brief bite. "Ah, darling. I am glad that it is a good "lot"." they replied with a laugh, nuzzling Arquis's cheek and smiling again at him. "I hope you're feeling nice and warm?" their voice tipped up into a question as they pressed more kisses to Arquis's cheeks.

“Very nice,” Arquis mumbled, “and very, very warm.”

In fact, he was starting to feel a bit too warm. The heating had really started to kick into action, and combined with the fire, the extra clothes, and the blanket, he was starting to feel rather hot. He pulled off the top layer he’d been wearing and folded it, then put it to the side. Underneath, his neck was slick with sweat, and there was a damp patch down the front of his shirt. He pinched the collar of his shirt and used it to fan himself.

There were no windows or clocks in the lounge, so he wasn’t sure of the time. He had a feeling, however, that it was past breakfast. The conversation from the previous night came into his mind, and he wondered if he should say something. But perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps they’d gotten up very early and did not have to eat for several hours. That would mean he would not have to think about it for a while longer.

To distract himself from the thought of it, he took their hands and placed them back onto his sides. And then he took him by the mouth again, moving as if he had a mission, knotting his own hand in their hair and giving it a gentle tug.

Rin watched Arquis as the man stripped off the blankets and the top layer, eyes flickering across the damp patch. "Should we step out of the room for a moment?" they asked, though the question was soon silenced by Arquis's mouth pressing to theirs, and they moved with the kiss easily, pressing into the hand in their hair.

Arquis moved fluidly against them, moving forward to press them further into the couch cushions. He used his other hand, the one that wasn’t tangled in their hair, to brace himself against one of the pillows. A bead of sweat slid down his temple and disappeared into his hair. As it turned out, it wasn't just the external heat that was getting to him. It felt like he was burning up, though not literally. There was something simmering and burning inside of him; he didn’t have a fever, but it was not dissimilar.

He stopped to draw a breath. “Step out?” Their question had finally landed, it seemed. He looked at them curiously with his bright, fire-lit blue eyes.

Rin certainly didn't mind being pressed into the cushions, holding onto Arquis as the nobleman pressed them down. "Step out." they echoed. "To cool off. You seem quite warm." they reached up to touch Arquis's forehead, hoping that he was not getting sick. That would be a problem. Maybe it was just the heat of the room, as it was growing quite warm in there. Rin themself was starting to feel a bit overheated, though not to the extent that Arquis seemed to be.

Arquis laughed softly as they tested his temperature. “There is no need for that, my love. I have not taken ill. But yes, it is quite warm in here. I think the heating might have been dialed up a bit too high.”

He fanned himself with his shirt again and, for just a second, considered taking it off. But they had already had that whole debacle the previous night, and besides, they were in public. The last thing he wanted was to be caught topless with his non-female partner by a gossip or someone who’d seen him before. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed of his and Rin’s relationship, but if word got back to Muria then the whole plan would have been ruined.

Rin nodded a little bit. "Are you sure? We can step out of the room for a few minutes, cool off, then step back in. It's no problem." they said softly, giving Arquis another little smile. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable." they looked up at Arquis with another soft smile.

Arquis wiped his throat with the back of his hand. His glove came away slightly damp. He pulled a face and stood, giving them a nod. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach that combatted the hot flame burning within him. Leaving would mean eventually going on with the day, and that would mean getting to all of the things he didn’t want to do. But he could do it. Rin was there to help him, and besides, he did want to get better.

“That does sound like a nice plan,” he agreed with a smile. “Though perhaps we should return to our room instead? I would like to change into something a bit more appropriate.”

Rin nodded a little bit. "Sure." once Arquis was off of them, they got up, giving him a smile as they grabbed the blanket that Arquis had brought in. "We can go back to our room, and then go get some breakfast. Maybe we'll see Honey, too." they took a deep breath, and headed towards the door.

Arquis tucked his arm around their waist and followed him to the door. While the cold made him irritable, the heat made him drowsy. He kissed them on the arm, then continued to their room.

Lovey had been right about the power. The heating seemed to be blazing away, but the lights were still off. The hallways were almost pitch black. Even the outside world seemed darker than before. The clouds were heavier than they had been earlier, as if heralding a worse storm to come.

Nobody else seemed to mind the lack of light. There were candles flickering away in most of the rooms, and voices filtered through every door. Some people were laughing. Others were talking. There was even a couple that was yelling, though their screaming fizzled out really quickly. Arquis thought he could hear Divinity singing in the distance, but he could’ve been mistaken. He hadn’t been around her much at all.

Their door was open; they’d apparently forgotten to lock it. Arquis squinted into the darkness. He was still holding onto Rin, but he couldn’t even see them. He hunted down a candle and prepared to strike a match.

Just as he was scraping the match against the tray, somebody that was definitely not Rin groaned, “No.” Arquis jumped and clung onto his partner. He realized only a second after that he knew the voice.

“Honey?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yeah.” Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Arquis stared into the darkness again, but he couldn’t see much at all. His eyes hadn’t yet adjusted from being near the fire. “Don’t.”

Rin immediately stiffened at the voice, then again as they realized something must be terribly wrong. "Honey? Are you okay?" they asked. They let go of Arquis, squinting against the darkness as they tried to figure out where Honey was. The bed? The chair? Where was he? The fact that he didn't want any light…either he was terribly hungover, or there was something really, really wrong, and Rin hoped dearly that it was just a hangover, even though they knew it probably wasn't.

(btw uh pretty decent violence warning on this one)

Honey laughed. It was a short, sarcastic sound that ended in a hiss of pain. Arquis felt his blood turn to ice. He stood in place, his thumb running over the splintering wood of the match, and tried to locate the source of the laugh. Had it come from the bed? Not quite, but that wasn’t too far off. He fumbled about with one arm in front of him until he found a bedpost.

“Nah.” There was something wrong with his voice. It was uneven and strained, with an unmistakable slur. By the sound of it, he was drunk. Arquis relaxed. Maybe he’d gotten lost, stumbled into the wrong room, and tripped over something. That could explain the pain. If he had sprained an ankle, then that could be easily fixed. He’d be out of commission for a while, but he could work the front desk.

And then there was a sound. At first, Arquis thought it was another laugh, but he realized it was a sob. Arquis struck the match and lit the candle. A faint yellow light filled the room. Panic seized him. Honey was on the ground by the bed, legs sprawled out in front of him, arms loosely tucked around his bare torso. His face was a nightmare. His right eye was swollen, dark, and shiny. There was dried blood under his nose and smeared up his cheek. Fresh bruises were forming everywhere, including what Arquis could see of his chest.

Honey tried for a smile. Arquis wished he hadn’t. Some of his teeth were stained red.

Rin's heart seized in their chest when they saw Honey. "Oh, gods." They moved over to him, going to their knees beside the young man. "Are…do you have any broken bones?" They reached out to gently feel Honey's arms and wrists, checking for breakage. "Arquis, darling, can…can you please go get a washcloth and some water?" They swallowed faintly, knowing that as much as they wanted answers, they had to take care of Honey first. "And, Honey, is it alright if I move you onto the bed? It would be more comfortable." He didn't want to lift Honey without the young man's permission. Didn't want to touch him, not in this state. Not when someone clearly hadn't cared about permission and consent before touching him.

Honey cried out when Rin pressed on his left wrist. He immediately yanked it from their grasp, which only seemed to hurt worse. Unshed tears glimmered in his good eye as he flattened himself against the wall.

Arquis didn’t know what was worse: the fact that he was in such bad shape or the fact that he was still trying to smile. Even near crying—even with a sprained or broken wrist and a black eye and blood smeared all over him—he was doing his best to keep up his act. But he was afraid, and his fear was outshining his false persona by a wide margin.

“Don’t really feel like going to bed right now,” Honey gritted out slowly. He was cradling his bad wrist to his bruised chest, as if scared Rin would try and touch it again. “Not sure I’d be any good.”

Arquis snapped out of his daze. Rin had given him a task, and he needed to do it. He set the candle on the floor and hurried away to the bathroom. The water that dripped from the faucet was freezing at first, but after a minute it was warm enough to work. He collected a washcloth and a towel, filled a soap dish with water, and started to make his way back. Then, he paused, grabbing the wastebasket as well. Honey sounded like he was crossing from drunkenness to hangover territory. He might need it.

When he came back, he sat down next to Honey and began to set his stuff out beside Rin. He dipped the washcloth into the dish, then, after asking permission, began to clean his face. It was a good thing he’d had so much practice with books and art in the past; he’d acquired a very gentle, delicate touch.

Rin immediately backed off when Honey pulled away. "Honey, that's not what I meant." They said, very softly. "I am sorry for hurting you further. But we… we'll have to get a doctor in here to take care of your wrist; I don't have the right expertise to take care of it, and I highly doubt Arquis does either." They paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "And whoever did this to you isn't going to find you here." They said, doing their best to make eye contact, doing their best to make sure Honey saw their sincerity. "I promise. I'm not going to let that happen."

Honey shook his head and then groaned, pressing his good hand to his forehead. If Arquis had to guess, he’d say he just made a burgeoning hangover headache worse. He very carefully wiped away the blood from his nose, grateful that it didn’t seem to be broken, and dabbed around his black eye. He didn’t want to actually touch it, not if he could avoid it.

“No doctors here.”

“Are you certain?” Arquis asked gently. He placed his fingers under Honey’s chin and tilted his head. His breath caught. There was a bite mark right below Honey’s ear that had broken the skin. Barely, but there were still small drops of blood. Gingerly, he brushed the rag over it, trying to shove down the wave of nausea rising within him.

“Don’t like doctors,” Honey muttered in response. He’d gone tense when the cloth had touched his neck. Arquis whispered an apology. “Wrist’ll be fine. Sprained. Not broken. Just needs ice.”

Alarms went off in Arquis’s head. The fact that Honey knew the difference between a sprain and a break was extremely concerning. He didn’t seem to be the type to study medicine for fun, so that left a couple of options. Either he’d looked it up in anticipation of a future injury or he knew from experience. Neither option was very promising.

For a solid minute, everything was pretty quiet. Arquis moved from Honey’s neck to his chest. When he touched the bruises over his ribs, Honey grimaced, but he didn’t say anything.

And then, he let out a broken, tired-sounding admission. “Can’t pay you back for this. Don’t have a lotta money. But… but I can…” He reached out with his good hand and let it rest on Rin’s calf. “I’m still good. To do… whatever. Eventually.”

Rin lit a few more candles for more light, shaking his head quickly at Honey's offer. "Absolutely not. There's no need to pay us back, and I am not…we are not doing that in payment, either." Their voice was firm. "Okay? Do you understand?" With the added light, Rin could see more of the bruising, the bite mark, the blood. He hated that this had happened, hated that Honey was so bruised and hurt. But he was also glad that Honey had come to him and Arquis. Glad the young man had at least been willing to seek help. "Are your, ah, ribs broken or anything?" With the bruising, he wasn't sure. It was bad, either way.

(another gentle warning for dark content, tried not to make it explicit but still a warning)

Honey didn’t respond to what they’d said. He just inelegantly retracted the hand from their leg. As if punishing himself, he forcefully pushed his fingers into his ribs, feeling the spot with an aggression that Arquis could tell hurt. By the time Arquis reached out to stop him, he’d already finished. His arm flopped uselessly to his side.

“Bruised. Pretty sure.” He looked at Rin, face contorted, breathing ragged. His bad eye somehow looked worse in the light. Arquis looked him over again, searching for anything he’d missed. Honey was wearing the same dark shorts he’d been wearing when he’d brought them dinner.

“Honey,” Arquis began, then hesitated. He hated that he had to ask, but it was necessary. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Honey followed his eyes down to his shorts and exhaled. It sounded like it hurt. “Nah. Nah, I mean, he tried, but he couldn’t, and then he got mad. But nah. I’m all in one piece down there, sweetheart.”

And then he started crying. Silently. His face crumpled, and he pressed it into his bare knees, like he could hide it from Arquis or Rin. His chest shook, but he didn’t make a sound. Arquis wondered how many times he’d ended up like this, and the thought nearly killed him. He looked over to Rin with a heartbroken expression.

(it's fine! It's not a trigger for me, btw, so it's alright if you describe things a little more)

Rin grimaced faintly at how hard Honey jammed his finger into his ribs, biting his lip when the young man started to cry. His own eyes, when he met Arquis's gaze, were soft and heartbroken for this young man. He shifted, gently settling his arm around Honey, holding him and trying to soothe him. Their hold was featherlight; Honey could break away easily if he wanted to. "It's going to be alright." They whispered. "We aren't going to let anyone hurt you." They wanted to tell Lovey, tell someone, but not now. Not when Honey was so broken and upset.

(I don’t think anyone else is reading this thread but I just wanted to be careful, good to know though!)

Honey did break away, but not because of the contact. He bent over even further and let out a brief, hurt gasp. Arquis felt sick. Down his back were angry, raised red scratch marks, some of which were dotted with thin beads of blood. He’d accidentally left tiny red stains on the wall behind him.

“Forgot about those,” he mumbled, as if it wasn’t a big deal. As if this happened everyday.

Arquis took a deep, stabilizing breath. In the calmest voice he could muster, he softly asked, “Can I clean them for you?”

“Yeah. Go wild.”

The next few minutes were horrible. Honey, with tears still actively streaming down his face, pretended not to be in pain while Arquis dabbed at the worst of the scratches. They really weren’t that bad, just surface level, but picturing someone leaving them upset him greatly. When he was finished, he went back to the bathroom and found an emergency medical kit under the sink. It had bandages, thank goodness, and some ointment to prevent infection. He gently applied them to anywhere that had been bleeding. For good measure, he also applied a large bandage to his ribs, though he wasn’t sure what that would help.

“Alright. That was most of it,” he said quietly.

Honey scrubbed the last of the tears from his good eye and nodded. It seemed as if he was hyping himself up, and Arquis had the horrible feeling that his mask was about to go back on. Rather than let it, he gave Honey a slow, gentle tap on the arm.

“What do you need right now? Is there anything we can do?”

Honey looked like he’d been punched. Again. His eyes darted between Arquis and Rin, like he was seeing something imaginary. Something too good to be true.

“You don’t want me gone?” he asked weakly.

(ah alright!)

Rin pulled their arm back when Honey broke away, not wanting to prolong contact that Honey didn't want. When he saw the marks, he hissed through his teeth, grimacing faintly. At the question, though, they shook their head. "No. We said we would help you, and we aren't going to make you leave if you don't want to." Their voice was quiet, but sincere. "If you need anything, we can try and get it. Some food, maybe?" They realized that they were a bit hungry; they hadn't eaten yet. But it was fine. Honey was more important than food right now.

Honey looked, all of the sudden, like a lost little kid. His mouth opened and closed several times without saying anything. He was close to crying again, but he managed to hold it in.

“You shouldn’t be nice to me,” was what he landed on. It wasn’t said harshly; there was no venom or threat in his tone. He spoke it in the way a child might after waking from a rough nightmare. There was even a tremble at the end of the sentence, like he was about to break any second.

“You shouldn’t be nice to me, ‘cause I’m such a damn screwup, and shit, I tried really hard this time, I was trying so hard, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. And I’m so messed up and too drunk to be doing any of this, and I’ve got such a hangover coming, but I don’t even care, ‘cause I deserve it! I deserve it, and I deserved-” He swore again without any heat and balled his hands into fists, even the one with the injured wrist. He put them over his eyes. “Why are you so damn nice to me?”

Arquis recognized this type of rant from his own drunken endeavors. Emotions always won, in the end. Honey was past survival mode. He was speaking because he loathed himself, and Arquis would bet that part of him wanted to be kicked out, yelled at, turned away.