Easton only looked away when the ring was placed on his finger. He looked at it for a second before beginning to fiddle with it. "It's beautiful…" Easton took one of the sandwiches already laid out beforehand. "I don't know what you mean by my hints were obvious, they most certainly were not!" He huffed bitting into one of the many delious sangwhiches that had been prepared by his kitchen. "You're the one who's too obvious. But anyway, since you seem to know me, tell me something about you. I know your favorite flowers. I know your past. I just don't know anything else. It keeps me up day and night just thinking about you. Weird thing to say when you just met someone I know. My apologies." Easton smirked. "You think my face is stunning? Why thank you. If you so wish to know, my name is Easton. But you my dear…" He took Abrose's hand, kissing the back of it angelicly. He looked him dead in the eyes and said in his husky voice, "You can call me anything you want."
He smiled softly and bowed his head "I'm glad you like it." He snorted a laugh took a sandwich for himself. "Oh they definitely were my dear, more so than mine." He reassured waving a hang "no, don't apologies, please! It actually amused me that you say that, considering that I did similar." He admitted, his cheeks heating with blush at the confession. He breathed instead readily and glanced off towards the mare, making sure she didn't wander too far as he thought about his answer. Something that wouldn't give him away immediatly. "I'm not a Lord." He said softly "or part of any noble family." He said softly and carefully. "I know it most likely seemed so at the ball but my friend, the one I said I came with actually lent me those clothes. This is as fancy as I can get with what I have at home," he gestured towards himself "well, save for theask. That was a gift from him." He breathed a laugh, glad to at least get one lie off his chest. He snapped his attention back to Easton as he said his name and took his hand. "Easton." He repeated softly, a smile tugging on his lips. "A beautiful name." His blush grew darker as he held the Captain's gaze, seeing the same want in his eyes, now paired with such desire in his words. "I'd call you bold, almost far too bold for using such an implicit tone with me, dear. Especially after only one night spent with you." He said softly, voice barely above a rough whisper. "How, dear? Do you manage to tempt with with such honey coated words, hm?" He laughed lightly, finally willing himself to look away from Easton's heavy gaze if only for moment, but never once letting go of his warm hand
"Is it so bad I want to sway you will my word till you think of no one else but me?" Easton loved the way he reacted to him. It made his heart flutter and it let him know he was doing something right. He looked down at their hands, then back to Abrose, then once more to their hands. He delicately laced their fingers together almost as if he moved any faster he would have broken Abrose right then and there. He took his free hand and placed his pointer finger and thumb onto Abrose's chin. Easton made sure their gaze met. He was trying to read the boy before him. Easton was shocked when Abrose confessed that he wasn't from a noble family. Rank was important to Easton. It would tell him how he should act and treat others. It was how he found balance in his life. This man had just broken that balance and fore once it felt good. It felt free. He didn't et go of Abrose's hand, fearing that if he did, he wouldn't be able to hold it again. "That's….That's very…well…very surprising." He cleared his throat. "But even so, I don't think it has to determine anything for us. It's just a title." Eastonlifted his hand up to his lips, slowly planting a kiss of the ring Abrose gifted him with, never once looking in the other direction away from Abrose.
Abrose blinked and glanced down at their laced hands then up at Easron as his chin was tilted up. "You're the only one I think of ever since yesterday. No matter how I may try to distract myself." He admitted, gently squeezing Easton's hand. He watched for Easton's reaction, scared that he might blew his chance. "Surprising really? I'd find it more surprising if a human were a noble, considering most are Fae." He mused softly, lightly grazing his thumb over Easton's hand. He blushed at the kiss as he held his gaze. He breathed a laugh to break the tension and sighed softly. "Would it have made a difference if you knew that when we met?" He asked softly, shifting so that the hand on his chin was now on his cheek. He leaned into the gentle carress and pressed a kiss to his palm. "Would you have gone up to me if you knew?"
Easton glanced at his movements with a deep gulp. "Well. If you want me to be completely honest. Yes…it would have changed me going up to you. If I knew I probably wouldn't have even glanced at you. If I did knew and you had everyone else fooled, I would've walked up to you. The reason for that is because of my parents if they even caught a glimpse of me with someone who wasn't up to par, then I don't know what they would do to you." He sighed, giving his loving smile. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this but our family is…is a bit of a financial crisis. It's nothing too bad, but they believe it is. I'm working more shifts more hours to help them out. The queen said that if I could catch this guy named Abrose then I could earn a lot of money. She won't tell me why, so in the end, I tried but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't stop doing trying though, I just don't want to, but if I don't my family… Abrose is just a sweet guy. Not that I would ever tell him that. He's so rude. I can't blame him, I was rude to him first. Only because I had to distance myself from those people, make them see that I'm a higher rank than them, at least that's what my parents told me to do. I know it's no excuse and you can hate me if you want, but I would like to make this work." He looked at him with eyes that anyone could tell he was longing for him. "If there even is a 'this.'" Easton only shook his head with a laugh. "My apologies for being close." he pulled his hands away folding them neatly in his lap.
Abrose slowly pulled his hands back into his lap as Easton let go, blinking rapidly as he processed his words. “So title did have everything to do with whether you would have approached? If abrise hadn’t worn the mask, and if he had been himself that night, he would have never met with the caotain. And maybe that would have been for the best, then he could’ve saved himself this heartbreak. He looked away, not returning that beautiful smile Easton threw his way. He was being hunted by the very man in front of him and his queen. And if Abrose revealed himself now he had no doubt he’d be turned in, for the sake of Easron’s family. he huffed a small laugh and shook his head. He knew it was selfish, knew of course Easton's main concern was the well being if his family but for once, Abrise thought he had somone to rely on, somone to share his past with that wouldn't immediatly judge him for the magic that ran in his blood. But Abrose had none of that, not even now when he was a complete stranger to both himself and Easton. He didn't dare look up, didn't want to see Easton's face as he spoke the most horrible words he had ever said to anyone. "This?" He breathed "there was never a this, captain. You must have misinterpreted my intentions. For there can never really be a thisisn't that right? Whatever this was, was merely a distraction for myself and surely for you as well, to escape our lives for a bit." He slowly stood and turned his back to Easton, untied the knot that kept the mask in place and let it drop to the ground. "It was fun while it lasted." Abrose muttered softly before striding to the mare and mounting, gently nudging her in a walkaway from the Willow tree, tears stinging his eyes.
Easton felt like he had been ripped in two. He wasn't prepared to have this happen tonight. "W-Wait…" He mumbled as he listened to the man before him. Even someone like him could cry and he was extremely close to it. Easton felt a pain in his chest. Of guilt, pain, and regret. What if I didn't tell him. I should've kept quiet. "Wait!" He stood stumbling over the beautiful picnic that took hours to prepare. The light flickered out and he stood there in the dark looking like an idiot. He was speechless. He didn't know what to say what to do. There was nothing he could say or do to make him see anything else but a monster. "I…I…I thought…maybe…" His words came and went with no steadiness in his voice. He took a deep breath forcing himself into a voice that no one could see through and said, "My apologies for thinking I can make this work. I wasted your time." Easton turned away from Abrose. He bent down and started to clean up the mess he had made. He moved the half-eaten food into the baskets. He moved the gaslamp that was no longer lit out of the way. His was twisted with anger and regret. He was never this soft with anyone and when it does it always comes back to bite him.
Abrose forced himself not to pull his mare to a stop as he heard the shift in Easton's voice. Back to the stoic, remorseless captain of the guard he had first met, without the tease and relentless taunting. He bit his lip hard to keep from sobbing loudly but it wasn't enough to stop the flow of tears slipping down his cheeks. Abrose clutched his chest as if that could stop the twisting in his heart as Easton's voice rang in his head, heartbreakingly soft and pleading before he had shifted. I Wasted your time. Never in millennia would Abrose ever call their time spent together a waste if time. He lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, only lifting it when his mare gave a whinny as they approached his home. He gently patted her neck as he slid off her back and shuffled inside, ignoring the messy front area and going to the are he used as a home, private from everyone else. He stood in the center of the living room are and glared around at the glass bottles and empty pots that littered each emtly table he had. This. This was what he had sacrificed a seemingly perfect start to his relation with Easton for. He knew deep down he did it for his customers and his lost family but he never knew it would have cost him his heart. Gritting his teeth as he felt another wave of tears stinging his eyes, before they started flowing, Abrose gripped an empty pot and threw it across to the room, shattering the pot into millions of pieces followed by every vile and jar that was in sight. After hours of tearing his home apart, and realeasing an agonizing, sobbing scream, he slumped to the ground, surrounded by pieces of glass and his heart. "I'm sorry."
(What are you doing roleplaying you should be a novel writer)
(aw thank you XD the same goes for you, I love your writing style in both our rps. In all honesty I don't write much out of here save for a few fan fics so that means a lot, thank you again <3)
Easton didn't know what to do with himself. Once he cleaned up he headed back to his house. He felt defeated and for once in his life worthless. He didn't know why he felt this way about someone he just met. It wasn't as serious as he felt but yet, everything inside of him tore away with each step inside of his empty house. With each stride came something else broken, with each grunt was something more undone. By the time he reached the stairs he looked back to see a mess his servants would have to clean up. Glass sharped, broken wood, pillow feather laid out on the floor, and picnic that was prepared spread across the floor like salad dressing. He only trudged up the steps. He closed the door kicking off his shoes. He undressed and laid there staring at the ceiling. He held one hand over his chest while the other was held over his eyes. "I'm so stupid…why did I ever think…it could work. Humans really are what I was told…" Easton hated himself more than anyone for trusting someone enough to have the moments they shared be called merely a distraction. That night he ended passing out after hours of contemplating what had happened. He woke up feeling groggy and tired. He got dressed but messily put on his clothes. His clothes weren't straight and he had dark circle's under his eyes. Nothing about him looked approachable. Once he was done he went out into town. Abrose was probably going to laugh at him if he heard what happened. People would move out of his way as he walked through town. His didn't have a shine or a glow in them. They were simply dull. Like they used to be.
(Don’t thank me I’m only telling the truth)
Similar to the night before, Abose barely slept, only management a few hours before waking up in the early morning hours. Upon seeing the state his room was in, then further seeing the dying flowers in the shops area, Abrose knew that'd he'd have to close for the day to fix everything. Abrose dragged himself from the bed and dressed, changing into fresh clothes. He stood in the center of the flower shop and looked around at his wilted flowers, perfectly reflecting his own emotions. He took a deep breath, surpressing his emotions for now as he bustled around and cared ftor hem, gently coaxing them back to health with his magic. He took the entire morning to heal his plants andti give himself a chance to think over what he'd done the night before. As the morning went in, and as customers flowed in, Abrise fell into a Rhythm of numbly attending to his patients and silently working. Whenever someone asked what was wrong, he'd gently shake off their concern and tell them he wasn't feeling well. By noon, Abrose had found a slot of time to clean his living area, barely registering the cuts on his hands as he swept the shards of glass and ceramic pots into a near pile off tto he side.
Easton looked at the florist shop that he went into every day. For some reason, it looked as unapproachable as he did. He needed to get his mind off things so what better a distraction than to do his job. "I'm back." He hummed as he walked into the store. His rhythm felt off. His usually bold and annoying mood seemed different as he did his best to try to hide his emotions. Easton looked at the flowers in the window and frowned just a bit. "So, how is your daily healing job going. I hope you don't have too many customers today." He leaned on the front desk like he usually did, not even phased by the flowers touching his arm. He looked down at his hands. "You ever had that one thing that you thought would work out just…." he made a clicking noise with his mouth. He made a dropping motion with his hand with a scoff, "go down the drain?" He sad laugh came from his mouth. "Yeah, it…it isn't fun." He took a deep strained breath in. "You look like you're doing better than me. Before you say anything, it didn't work out…yeah. It's fine I'll…I'll move on. I think." His voice was soft but you could tell it wasn't normal. He tried to get himself back to the way he used to be. "Anyway, I just came in here to annoy you. You seem to be having a bad day so why not come in and make it worse hm?"
Abrose appeared in the doorway, wrapping a bandage over his cut hand. "Hello, I'm sorry but we're clo-" he looked up, eyes still puffy and red from last night, the remains of tears staining his cheeks. "Easton," he barely whispered not daring himself to say the name outloud. They weren't on first name basis anymore. He sucked in a deep breath and willed himself not to cry again, not to beg for forgiveness. Abrose focused on wrapping his injured hand, sitting down at his stomach so he wouldn't collapse into a pathetic sobbing mess. Hce leared his throat "I'm sorry to hear that, captain. I truly am." He said softly, looking anywhere but at Easton, forcing down the pain in his chest. You did it for the both of you, so neither would get hurt, he reminded himself. "You're right, I'm not having the best day it seems. So why not torture each other more?" He stood from his table and glanced an armfull of dead flowers. "You grab the water buckets while I take the flowers. Might as well put yourself to use while you annoy me."
Easton looked up with a confused face but still felt a little better. That someone wanted him around. He was stationary until he came to his senses. He quickly grabbed the water buckets and followed him. He looked at the dead flowers. "So…" he wasn't exactly sure what to say. It was so sudden and Abrose hated him. He didn't think that he would want to have anything to do with him. "What happened? To make you feel like shit. You're always happy and peppy and 'I wanna help everyone you know?" Easton looked at Abrose still curious as to what he wanted him for.
"empty the water out back in the garden and set one in here while I bring these to compost." He instructed softly, always making sure to avoid eye contact as he swiftly made his way out the back door and to a pile Of rich, dark soil. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and gently shooed his mare towards one of the pack pastures in case Easton recognized the horse from last night. Pretending to be busy plucking herbs and spices, Abrose gave himself five minutes to clamp down on his emotions before heading back inside, this Time leading Easton to his private living space, not careing anymore that the captain knew about the apothecary or not. In all honesty, he'd rather turned in than deal with the heartbreak that came with seeing Easton's face and being reminded of what he had said. He sighed softly as he knelt by the pile of glass shards and started to scoop them up with his hands. "You know when you have to make a decision and it seems like the best one in your head but no one else knows your doing it for the greater good so that decision hurts another person so deeply you forget how to properly function? That. That is why I feel like shit today and probably why I'll feel like that the rest of my life." He swallowed hard, "I thought that I'd sacrifice anything to keep this place safe, to keep what my family had worked so hard for, safe. But I recently found out that sacrificing my heart challenged that." He let out a painful laugh and wiped his tears with his shoulder "seems like my magic knew it to. Came home last night and everything was dead. Just like how I felt." He took a wavering breath and shook his head. "Sorry, you probably didn't need to hear that, or care."
Easton did as he said before quickly following Abrose to what looked like his own room. It looked like a mess, almost like he was getting kidnapped, but struggled so the kidnapper gave up and left. He watched him pick up a glass shard, and soon he started to help too. He listened to what he said. To Easton, Abrose felt so similar. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Hey, I care. Sort of. I know I'm clod but I'm not that bad." Easton wanted to offer something but he fingered he would wait. He looked at Abrose with a loving gaze. He didn't know why he was looking at him like that he just was. He felt his chest tighten when he kept thinking about what Abrose said. "You're problems run deep. How about…" He set the pieces of glass on a table nearby, "we go get some drinks. I think we both need to lose ourselves tonight, drinking to loneliness and sadness and some other shit we have to deal with. Although you probably wouldn't want to go anywhere with me. No one does these days…" He leaned on the wall with a sad grin. "If you don't want to come I'll be drinking by myself so you know where to find me."
The word 'i know' were lodged in his throat, renderings ride speachless for a moment. Of course he knew Easton wasn't all that bad as he tried so hard to show the world. But was false. Abrose didn't know that loving, endearing side if Easton, hell he still didn't know his proper name. No, that side of the captain was reserved only for the mystery man who had danced and shared his life all in one night with him. So Abrise swallowed again and bobbed his head in a silent thank you. He arched an eyebrow and sniffled "wow, the captain of the Royal guard is inviting a human with magic, somone he's only been annoying the hell out of for the past week, out to drinks all because I told my sob story?" He dared a glance up at Easton, searching his beautiful eyes for some shred of that hatred he knew lay beneath for his mystery man. You'd end up hating me either way once you found out who I was. He wanted to scream, both out of anger towards himself and towards Easton, how could he not see the resemblance? How did Abrise let this man, this far into his heart so easily. Why did he feel a need to hug him and kiss him and never ever let go, no matter the price. And then out if sadness, knowing he'd never have a chance to do anything with Easton. He glanced away and sighed. "Alright, stop giving me the sad puppy look, I'll go with you, but I can't drink. I still have patients who need me sober tomorrow." He slowly stood from the rubble in his room and grabbed a nearby cloak. " Besides, who else is gonna walk your drubk-ass home?"
Abrose clapped his hands in victory. He was trying his best to then the pain he was feeling sink down to the lowest part of him. He didn’t want to feel emotions like that. Not right now. "Okay, one I'm inviting because have you taken a look at us. We like shit that got thrown into the garbage over and over again. So, I say that drinks are the only way to soothe the mind. Also…" He walked over to Abrose getting closer than he usually did. "You look like your suffocating in this place. So what's the harm in taking you away and giving you some sense of closure hm?" His face was inches away before he grinned. "I know that it is the middle of the day right now, but what's that to stop me from drinking. It's fun no matter what time of day it is. If you're so worried about customers then close tomorrow too. That way…" He sighed, but not a trained one or something out of boredom but a content sigh. "that way we can be drunk together. We can both walk our asses home." He moved past Abrose to the bedroom door opening it slowly. "What's the harm in getting a little tipsy?"
Abrose tilted his head up to peer at Easton, never once backing away from his approach. Let him get close, it was probably the only chance Abrose would get now that he had royaly screwed things over. He huffed a small laugh, their breath mingling with howclose they were. "You have no clue, but I deserve for what I did, so I don't mind dying a little inside." He shrugged and gazed up at Easton, wanting to reach out and wipe away that sad smile. His hand throbbed with pain as he clenched it beside him, forcing himself not to. He shook his head and watched as Eastob walked past him towards the door. "As much as I want to lose myself in a drunken state, I can't do that, not with them relying on me." He swung the cloak over his shoulders and flicked the hood over his head. "Says the captain of the Royal guard. I can't imagine what your men, let alone your queen would say if you showed drunk to your duties."
Abrose closed the door behind them. "You know, everyone one takes a "sick day" when they're not feeling up to their work. I'm pretty sure since you're closed today by the time you wake up tomorrow you'll just have a headache. At least one." Easton tried to straighten himself up. Fixing his clothes not realizing his uniform had one button on the wrong clip. Once he was done he looked more presentable than he did before. It was nice to do something with someone. I asked someone to drink with him the answer most likely would've been no, but he was just a little less sad when Abrose said yes. Talking to him felt easy and he wasn't sure why. "I'm just saying one drink won't hurt unless you're a light weight, but no one is that much of a light weight."
Abrose thought for a moment, the thought of losing himself and leaving his troubles behind with a few drinks intriguing him greatly. What would a few days off cost him? He had relentlessly worked for the past 5 years without a break for himself. He needed this, especially after last night. He glanced over his shoulder "get ready to be proven wrong, Captain." He laughed lightly, though painful, it felt good to smile for the first time that day. "Maybe not one but I don't think I can last through many drinks." He said, clutching the cloak around himself. He chewed his lip and looked up at Easton. "Would you listen if they tried to explain their reasoning?" He asked softly. "Assuming there is a reason why this person broke off the relationship, assuming there was a relationship to begin with." He stopped himself from rambling and giving himself hope, even as his cheeks reddened and his heart swelled at even the mere thought of having any chance of a relationship with Easton. "Sorry, that's probably not something you want to talk about right now."
Seeing Abrose smile made him smile. It was genuine this time and it felt good. "I'm ready alright." His smile slowly faded when he talked about what happened last night. "No, no, it's okay. I don't mind. For some reason, you're easy to talk to. I think…" he huffed. "I think I know why he doesn't want anything to do with me. The same reason you don't like me. To me rank matters. Maybe that's a bad thing, but I can't change my judgment you know. It's hard to think that your entire life that ranks matter and then meet someone that makes you think otherwise. He probably broke it off because of that. I come from a higher family and I offended him by saying I wouldn't have walked up to him because he's a human. Most of all I said that I walked up to him because he looked like he was higher in rank. I basically called him unimportant. You wouldn't call someone you like unimportant. So I get it." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "If he asked to meet up again and explain it. I would hear him out. It's not like he did anything wrong either. But even if he explained it, I…I don't think I could just accept it. I would fight for him. I would tell him that we could still make it work and maybe you'll grow to like me as much as I like you. Right now it feels one-sided." He looked over to Abrose with a small flush on his cheeks. "My apologies I was rambling."
Abrose nearly tripped on his own two feet when he heard Easton. He’d give Abrose a chance. He’d fight for what they had. It broke his heart a little, seeing Easton this affected by his words. He straightened and shook his head "don't apologies Captain." He scanned the path in front of him, instinctively going for his pocket to be in reach of his knife when he remembered he no longer has one. "I…It's not that I don't like you. Even if you were a prick when we met." He sighed and waved a hand in the air, trying to organize his thoughts. "You're the Queen's Captain. My family's history with the queen isn't the best. I think if it were anyone but you, surprising as it is, I don't think I'd be alive right now." He dropped his hand to his side "Maybe they had a good reason to do that. Maybe they were scared and decided to break things off first before it got too serious." He bit his lip and glanced away for moment. "For whatever reason they might have had, I don't think it's one sided, captain, no matter what they said." He reassured, looking up as they reached the small village town.
