Romulus was drifting, not necessarily towards sleep, just kind of…. not all there. His stomach was full, he was hydrated, his bed was comfortable, and he had a beautiful woman looking over him.
But he hurt, and it was keeping him awake.
"I'm sorry about earlier…. wasn't trying to make things awkward…" If he wasn't going to sleep, may as well say what was on his mind. Or what he thought was on his mind. He wasn't sure.
Lear came back in just about then, calling from the living room. "Heard he needed food, are you both alright?" He came around the corner, into the bedroom, and noted the dazed but awake look on the Prince's face. "You're alive!" The Lieutenant hurried over and flopped onto the bed on the other side of Romulus, immediately checking bandages and casts.
Elia looked up as Lear entered the room but she didn't move away from Romulus. "Don't worry, darling, you didn't. We will have our time together eventually. Be patient." She murmured to him. She didn't particularly care if Lear heard. She knew he knew of their chemistry together. She wasn't embarrassed for him to hear her words.
She moved only to let Lear check the bandages on his side. She let him worry over the prince. She understood how much he meant to him. He needed that, to fuss, and to make sure he had done everything in his power to help. It was how Elia felt, except she was less helpful. "He's in a lot of pain. I'm not sure if you have a tonic for the pain. He's definitely concussed. His eyes aren't responding well but his reflexes are normal enough with his injuries."
Romulus shook his head just a little. "It's not the patience, I just… I don't think of you like that, Elitia." He wanted to be clear there, but his words weren't coming out as coherent as he wanted anymore.
He looked up, and his face lit up as Lear came in. "You're back!"
Lear smiled at him, and looked up as Elia listed off his condition. "Thank you for checking him over. And no, there's no tonic we know of that works for him. Getting him drunk is about the best you can hope for, but with a head wound, probably not an option." He noted their closeness, and smiled at her. "Thank you for staying with him."
Elia didn't respond to the prince, only stroked back his hair and smiled down at him. She knew what he meant. She knew he didn't think of her like that. She wasn't there to be his whore. But it didn't mean she didn't want to be with him sexually. She did. But she could wait.
She sipped on her glass of wine, relaxing further. When she emptied her glass, she poured herself another one. Two glasses a day was her limit. Any more and she knew the consequences she would be facing the next day. Normally she would stretch out her wine to last her throughout the day, but given what had happened earlier in the day, she deserved to have these glasses back to back.
"It's no problem, Lear, I don't mind staying with him. You should get some rest. Gods know the last time you got a good night's sleep. I'll watch over him. No need to worry."
Lear nodded slowly. He started to get up to head out, but Romulus laid his broken arm across his chest. "Bed is big enough for us all." He was right, and Lear smiled down at him. He'd spent plenty of nights in this bed, for much different reasons than most of its occupants.
"Let me get out of my court clothes and I'll be back." He headed through the door to his room and changed into more relaxed clothing, before coming back through. He plopped back down on the other side of Romulus, not as close to him as Elia, but definitely within reach, and stretched, before putting his head down. "We'll switch waking him up through the night." He said softly. As he was drifting off to sleep, he remembered one more thing.
"Lily and Calvin were thrilled, by the way."
Romulus smiled at him, and laid his cast on his friend's leg. He looked back over at Elitia. "Lily and Calvin?"
(I feel like im beginning to write out of character, maybe because Im half asleep. headed to bed)
(Okie, goodnight)
Elia took a small sip of her wine before setting the glass aside. She would work slower on this one. Her body was relaxing already and there was no need to gulp this one down.
She curled around Romulus as she sat against the headboard. She stroked his hair, getting out the last of his tangles. "I've decided to sponsor Calvin. He'll be named the heir of my estate. He'll be set to inherit my land and my riches and whatever else I acquire. I have no intention to have children of my own. I would hate for my estate to fall into the hands of someone I didn't trust when I'm gone."
She said it so nonchalantly, that she just decided not to have children. She had no intention of marrying either. She couldn't imagine a man in the world wanting to marry her for her. And she knew better than to marry a man that was out for her riches and lands. So that stuck her with being single for the rest of her life. It didn't bother her. She would be free to do as she pleased without having anyone hold her back.
The Prince turned his head just slightly and rested it against Elitia. She was soft, and he was fully ready to admit he was more comfortable cuddling this way than trying to fall asleep on his own. He always had been, and Lear had been the one on many occasions to help the troubled boy to rest. He still was, asleep next to the Prince.
Romulus gave an approximation of a smile at the news. "That's very good to hear. Calvin is a good kid, and I thnk he and Lily are going to make it." He thought for a moment. Does that mean you've chosen an estate?" His voice was getting quieter, her fingers running through his hair quickly putting him to sleep.
He didn't comment on her child choices, because he couldn't blame her. There were several reasons he'd never intentionally brought a child into the world himself. All those women, and he'd been careful to father nothing. He'd been accused, certainly, people were always turning up trying to get a piece of the royal ife by claiming their child was his, but… Well, Vespasian blood was very dominant. Vespasian genetics are pretty obvious, even at birth, and none of the children had proven to be his once born.
So he knew, without even asking, why Elitia had closed herself off from that option.
"I think so too." Elia kissed his head when he leaned on her. "And I trust them. I have no doubt they will grow up to be good people. I wouldn't trust my estate with anyone else." She was quiet for a moment as she played with his hair. "Yes, I did. But we can talk about it later, darling. You need to sleep."
She would watch over him for as long as he was injured. She knew she told Lear they could watch him shifts but she would let the man sleep for as long as possible. He needed it. She would be quiet when waking Romulus and make sure he was quiet as well, so not to wake the man.
Part of her questioned if they had romantic feelings for each other. They close. Very close. And they were sleeping on the bed next to each other as if they had done it a thousand times. She didn't find herself jealous or angry. She only hoped there was enough room her in there. She understood that Lear couldn't be pshycial, not with what he had been through. She wouldn't question him or pressure him. As long as he was happy, that's all she cared about.
Romulus wanted to talk about it, but he was finding his thoughts increasingly harder to order the more she soothed him into sleep.
He was out within a couple minutes.
He did notice her glance at Lear, and he wondered if she was wondering what so many others had wondered. He and Lear had been at the center of a lot of rumors, and if it hadn't been for his conflicting reputation as a man with good taste in whore-houses, he was pretty sure most of the court would consider them together.
I'll have to tell her some stories when I wake up…
He slept fitfully, his addled brain filling in some confusing dreams. Not nightmares, just… not peaceful. He didn't move too much, but a couple of times he twitched, and that hurt. He never fully came awake, but in his sleep, he definitely leaned further into Elitia for comfort.
Elia had gotten up momentarily at one point to grab a book from Lear's library before settling back into bed and pulling Romulus even closer. She opened the book and began reading, occasionally sipping on her wine, but mostly stroking Romulus's hair.
When the hour was up, she gently shook the prince awake, trying not to wake Lear as well.
"I know, darling, but I need you to wake for me. Let me see those pretty eyes of yours and I'll let you go back to sleep shortly." She whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek.
Romulus twitched awake, and groaned as his ribs complained about the movement. The swelling around his eye had gone down quite a bit, and he could open it finally. It was badly bruised, but he could see it of it, so that was good.
"Pretty eyes?" He asked sleepily. He couldn't tell if she was serious or if she was mocking his current ugly-eyed status.
Elia smiled down at him. "Yes, your beautiful blue eyes that are trying to hide from me."
She was happy his other eye was able to open. That was a good sign. The swelling was going down and he was starting to heal better than she had expected. She hoped this meant by morning his eyes would react to light as they should and not as they were.
"How are you feeling, darling?"
Romulus had to smile at that. The crushing weight of expectations, the fate of a nation on his shoulders, his entire body in pain, and still…
She likes my eyes!
He swallowed before he answered her question. "Everything hurts, and I'm dreaming funny." His words were slurring badly, whether from sleep or his head, he couldn't tell. "Other than that, not worse."
He frowned just a little. Before he'd gone to sleep, there'd been something on his mind he'd wanted to tell her…
He couldn't remember.
Elia matched his smile. She kissed his forehead, his cheek. She would have kissed him more but she didn't want to cause him more pain.
"Aw, darling. What are you dreaming about?" She asked him. "I know you hurt. It will get better. You'll just need to sleep it off."
Not that he could really sleep due to being concussed. After the first twenty four hours, he should be fine to sleep as usual.
Romulus tried to kiss her back, but he couldn't crane his neck at that angle. He settled for kissing her shoulder, which he happened to be able to reach.
He nodded. "I'll be alright. Just gotta heal…" He was quiet for a moment.
"I keep dreaming my mother is alive." His voice was very quiet. "She's been dead 11 years, and I know that, and when she's alive in my dreams, its happy but… there's something unsettling about it, because I want it to be real, but I know it's not…"
"Oh darling." Elia placed her hand on his cheek gently. "I'm sorry, darling. I know what you mean. Enjoy your dreams of her, it is the last that you have. Because when you wake, she won't be here. It's awful but I am here for you if you need me."
She understood loss and mourning more than most. She had lost her entire family, her titles, her life. In the beginning, she used ti have terrible dreams about it. She had since then buried those memories deep within her. She was worried what being at the palace would do to her. She didn't want to remember that night. She didn't want to remember any of it. She was scared that those memories would surface being there and around the man that killed her family.
Romulus had an odd look on his face. "I try to enjoy them, but… I have a hard time doing that. I have ever since… well. A while." He trailed the sentence off like there was more to say, but he didn't want to say it. He knew Elitia would understand the weight of grief, and he didn't want to ask her to delve into her experiences to help him.
He suddenly remembered something. "Oh! You were looking at Lear funny, earlier, just before I fell asleep." A small smile quirked his lips upward. "Do you have questions about us?"
Elia oy nodded at him and didn't press the issue any further. She wouldn't pressure him to talk about something he didn't want to speak about. Grief was hard to talk about. Especially to someone so new to your life.
She chuckled at his question." If I didn't know you two well enough, I would. And no matter what, it's none of my business what the two of you do." It wasn't for her to question their relationship nor did she care too. It didn't bother her no matter what the answer was. She had been with multiple men and women at once as well, so again, it didn't bother her. She quite liked being with multiple people sometimes. But she knew that wasn't Lear.
Romulus chuckled a little. "You wouldn't be the first." He glanced over at Lear, the tall, thin, dark haired man his opposite in so many ways. "Our relationship was complicated at first." He looked back at her and smiled a bit. "Much like ours, actually." His head twinged, and he paused, closing his eyes to keep the dzziness away, before continuing.
"I had just turned 17 when we met. He was at a brothel, had been sold there after a long time of that life. I went in, as I had been doing for 2 years, looking to check on the practices of the place and close it down if it was bad. It was awful, and I shut it down the next day, as soon as I could. But." He chuckled quietly. "I'd never found myself attracted to a man before. It just wasn't on my radar. Maybe I had been, but never in a context where I had a chance to think about it, and certainly not with anyone where I could have expressed it." He looked back at Lear, sleeping quietly next to him.
"Lear was the first. For me, he brought a side of me to life that I didn't know I had. He was the start. For him, though, I was the end. We were together that night, and he's never slept with anybody since. Including me again. Just the once." He looked up at her. "So despite what anybody tells you, all the nights he spends in here are spent almost exactly like this."
Elia glanced at the man sleeping beside then as he talked. She had a sad smile on her face. She understood what he meant. Her life in the brothel had been better than others, though still not great. She understood to a certain point what it was like, though she was never sold. She was tricked into the life.
"I'm happy you have both found solace and friendship with each other. I'm sure if he ever decided to be with someone again, you would be his first choice." She said it with no jealousy. She wasn't a possessive person. And Romulus wasn't hers. "Just let me know if you want a third. I would be happy to join."
Romulus chuckled quietly. "I won't pretend we've never been romantic, but… well. He's my dearest friend in the world, and neither of us is planning on jeopardizing that for a fling. We draw comfort from each other, and his presence helps me think. Probably because he's so smart." He looked up at her tiredly. "And I don't know if I'd want that threesome, I'd feel so stupid stuck between you two brains." He was drifting, and that made him feel bad, physically and emotionally. He needed to sleep.
"You're not stupid, darling. You're one of the smartest people I know. Far smarter than me. I know books. I know history. But I don't know much more than that. Don't sell yourself short." Elia stroked his hair back and kissed him sweetly. "Go back to sleep, my darling. I'll wake you again in an hour or so. You will feel better then."
It wasn't hard to notice he was drifting off. It looked like he could barely keep his eyes open. She just smiled softly at him and prayed he would have sweet dreams.
Romulus laughed, then groaned as the noise hurt his ribs. "I'm not smart, it's why I have Lear do all my thinking for me. And when I do make decisions, garbage like what happened in Calegon goes down." He shook his head slightly. "No, best for me to keep the dumb reputation in place."
Her gentleness lulled him back to sleep, but the conversation and the knowledge he'd have to be awake again soon had caused his brow to furrow.
He did not have sweet dreams.
Elia frowned as he spoke of himself in such a way. Romulus was very smart and brave. Sometimes things didn't always work out. Mistakes happened, and unforeseeable things happened, that changed the desired outcome. But that didn't mean he was any less smart. She would have said as much but he had already fallen back asleep. She wasn't sure if she could convince him but she would do everything in her power to make him realize that this was not his fault. It was an accident. A tragic one, but one that could not be avoided.
Her fingers soothed his brow, trying to get it to relax. She picked her book up again and began to read where she had left off. She sipped her wine here and there until the glass was empty.
The hour passed easily.
Romulus eventually stopped frowning, although he continued to twitch every so often. He was still dreaming weird things, some about his mother, some about his future, anything his addled mind decided to throw together.
Lear slept well, still as the dead, as he always did next to Romulus. He still nightmared occasionally, but never when the Prince was around.
He woke up just before the hour mark, stirring and sitting up, blinking in the lantern light.
"Time to wake him up soon, right?" He looked over at Elia. "Ah, you've found my library. What did you decide to amuse yourself with?"
