Cass frowns ever so slightly, “You act like it, Charles.”
He jumps slightly when the glass shatters and he moves forward to help Charles. He looks away, feeling slightly chastised for some reason, “Are you-“ He looks back at Charles, his hands poised up to help Charles.
Cass sighs and steps back, dipping his head slightly, “Of course. . .” He murmurs. He waists a moment before leaving the room and going back out to the party. HE stood on the baladons, silent and watching the people on the floor below.
(Yeah, you wanna go first?)
Charles sauntered down the hallway before stopping just outside of the grand doors. He had been informed that him and Cass would be entering to dinner together. The doors to the grand room were large and impressive, made of solid oak and adorned with intricate carvings on both the inside and outside. The carvings depicted various scenes from nature and the life of the people who had crafted them.
Charles sighed and sat down on one of the plush chairs lined up against the walls. what was taking Cass so long? He wasn't quite sure whether he was ready to see him again after coming so close to losing control. Charles rested his head in his hands and looked down the corridor. Would Cass expect him to apologize? He bit his lip.
Cass had spent the time until dinner blankly staring at a wall. When his mother had walked up to him to talk to him, he’d pretended to be present in the conversation, saying little as his mother spewed information at him.
“Cassius, I know you’re not listening, but you must pay attention.” His mother took his arm, pulling him away from the balcony, out of view of the people below. “Do not embarrass us, Cassius. Behave yourself.”
Cass looked at his mother, “Do not worry, Mam, I won’t do anything foolish.” He winks and turns, going down the stairs. He then slipped away, going outside and staying there until he realized he was running late for the dinner. He curses inwardly, pulling at his clothes slightly, wishing they were looser. Such finery was uncomfortable and it was choking him.
He heads back inside, making his way through the house to where Charles was waiting. He smiles, “Sorry, I got distracted. Lost track of time.”
(I just wanna boop this and see if you’re still up for it)
(Omg i forgot about this!! Ofc we can continue. I'll have a reply up in a sec)
(sorry, i got distracted)
Charles looked up from his fiddling with his suit cuffs. "So i see." He held out his arm for Cass to take and took a deep breath.
He gave Cassius a once over and raised and eyebrow in amusement. "Are you nervous?" he asked. "You look tight."
Cass glances at Charles and blinks once at him and then looks away. He takes the other man’s arm, placing his hand on the inside of the other man’s elbow. He’s still quiet for a moment before he speaks, “Lets just get this over with, shall we?” He looks at Charles, tilting his head slightly. He doesn’t really smile, and he still has the slightest blank look on his face, but he was trying.
"Might as well." Charles said as he gave the door in front of them a little nock. Two of the gaurds opened the door and Charles led Cass into the dinning aria. They did a lap around so as to say hello to everyone before coming to a stop at the head of the table. His family on the right and Cass's on the left. He nodded to his mother, and kissed the back of Cass's mother on the hand.
Charles waited for Cass to sit before clapping his hands twice with a slight wince to silence the people. "Welcome and thank you for coming," he began "I won't bore you with a long speech, but my fiancé and i are most thankful that you were able to make it for the celebration of our joining. And we hope that you will all make marry until the very end of our wedding at the new moon." He leaned down and took Cass's hand, kissing it lightly.
He sat down and servants started bringing out innumerable plates of exotic dishes.
Cass follows Charles, silent and calm. He smiles at his own mother and dips his head to his feature mother-in-law. He sits down in the seat positioned next to Charles and forced himself to not put his elbow on the table and rest his chin in his palm. Because apparently, it was impolite and unbecoming. Having to pretend to care what others thought of him was annoying and he honestly hated it, but he would do it, if it meant he didn’t get scolded by, well, anyone.
Cass nods slightly at Charles’ words and gives a light smile, fighting the impulse to pull his hand away with a glare. Instead, he settled on giving a charming smile and clapping his hands together, “Anyways. Boring stuff aside, let’s eat!”
His mother shot him a screwed glare, meaning this was the utterly wrong thing to do. Apparently he was supposed to care about what these people thought more than he cared about food. Well, that was disappointing. Be that as it may, with the words already said and manners aside, Cass reached forward to serve himself some food.
He began to sit down when Cass clapped and spoke. "Anyways. Boring stuff aside, let’s eat!" Charles's heart skipped a beat. That was widely inappropriate. Charles grabbed Cass's hand again and pulled him down back into his seat. He was going to glare but it seamed as if Cass's mother was doing enough for both of them.
Charles's eyes widened in surprise and he smacked Cass's hand before he could grab anything. He knew that Cass was from a lower class, but he must have some sort of etiquette training. Right? He would have to see that Cass got a tutor for this kind of thing. He would not be embarrassed again by this kind of incompetence.
Charles shot cass a hard glare and shook his head side to side as a warning.
Cass huffs, glaring at Charles. He shook his hand out and positively sulked. He didn’t not like people telling him no when it came to food. It was either drinking or eating that made Cass forget his worries, and with how active he was on a day to day basis, eating was the healthier option. But if he couldn’t eat, then he’d drink. He picks up his glass and peers inside for a moment before he takes a long drink.
He could feel Charles glaring at him, in almost the same way his mother was, but Cass didn’t care. The jerk prevented him from food, so now, he would wash his sorrows away in another fashion. He sighs, setting the glass down, “What is so wrong with wanting to eat? I don’t care ab out stupid protocol or manners or whatever.” This, he mutters under his breath with a wave of his hand.
Charles smiled at the people closest to them. They had payed a lot for those seats and he didn't want them to think that there money was wasted.
"There is nothing wrong with wanting to eat. But at an event like this, especially when you are technically the entrainment." he whispered at cass
He nodded to a servant as she plated two plates and handed one to each him and Cass.
"You wait to be served. Do not lower yourself to a point where you would do it yourself. At least when you are on display."
He picked up his fork and took a bite of a tiny potato, signaling to the rest of the table that they could then eat.
Cass makes a face. He lifts the fork, looking at the food in front of him. He then sets the fork down and lifts his glass again, taking another drink, “You. . . Think I’m -lowering myself by getting myself food? Pfft. . . It makes no sense to make someone serve me when I can do it myself.”
His gaze slides over to Charles, “But I guess and spoiled Prince like you wouldn’t know a thing about serving himself.” He brings the words from the wine room back. The image of Charles shattering the glass still fresh in his mind.
He looks at Charles, his eyes scann8ng the other man’s face for a reaction.
Charles swallowed hard and turned from his plate to face Cassius.
"Are you baiting me?" he asked, a slow smile forming.
He fiddled with his bandages under the table to stop/distract himself from reacting in a big way.
They had an audience after all. And why would he want to ruin this fantastic meal with an outburst. Even though he was well aware that that is why half of them were there. For an off chance to see a display of his infamous temper.
He took a deep breath and grabbed his glass, drained it, and signed to one of the slaves to come.
"Fill this with something stronger." he said.
Not caring that this could be considered rude or inappropriate to the occasion. And it might maybe be concreted to be verging on an outburst.
Cass rolls his eyes and stands, pushing his chair back away from the table. He bends slightly to whisper into Charles ear, “Not everything is about you. I have no reason to bait you, Charles.”
He straightens, forcing a smile to his face and then just walks from the room. The doors click closed quietly behind him and he wanders around for a moment before finding a door to the outside world and walks out. The small garden was elevated and facing the sea. His beloved ocean.
He stares at the glittering water, and then drops his head to the railing. He didn’t care if walking out like that was disrespectful. He didn’t care what the stuck up nobles thought about him. All he wanted was to go out to the sea.
“Not everything is about you. I have no reason to bait you, Charles.”
The smile slowly melted off of his face. without moving, he heard the doors shut with a tiny click. The room was almost silent, everyone was waiting for his reaction.
Charles took his now full glass back from the slave and drank it all in one gulp. He slammed the glass down on the table, cracking the bottom.
"No." he stated simply before standing up so fast that his chair was turned over and hit the floor with a crash. He clenched his fist so hard that his nails cut through the bandaging and his hand started to bleed again, the red soaking the linen. But that didn't matter, he was blinded by his rage and the pain only fueled it.
He slammed open the doors and marched down the hall, following the trail of open doors to a balcony. He opened the doors, they trembled on the hinges as they swung open.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Charles yelled. "WHAT RIGHT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO JUST STAND UP AND WALK AWAY!?"
Cass stares at the water. He could feel the longing, to just run to the sea and never look back. But the slamming of the doors made him jump slightly and turn. In the face of Charles’ rage, Cass was calm, quiet. He lets the other man yell at him and then looks away silently.
He knew he probably looked as pitiful as he felt, but he didn’t care. “What right? What, am I just another slave to you?” Cass asks calmly.
“Some one to boss around and tell what to do? But really, I needed the space. It would have been much more embarrassing for you if I sat there and got drunk off my ass just so I didn’t have to feel the shit I don’t want to feel.” He closes his eyes.
Charles clenched his fits harder, the blood dripping down and pooling on the floor.
"no." he said simply.
"YOu are not a slave! But you are my fiancé, and that makes you an honorary member of my household until we are wed! Wether you like it or not!"
He watched as Cass closed his eyes and Charles took a deep breath. Silencing another outburst of yelling.
"Do not-" he stoped himself "Hold out you hands." he demanded, his voice cold and commanding. A slight threat hidden deep inside his tone if he was disobeyed.
Cass scowls, “Well, then I’ll do as I please, and if it means coming out here for a breath of fresh air so I don’t do something foolish, then that is what I’ll do.” His gaze drops to Charles’ hand and he frowns slightly, his features softening.
Instead of holding his hands out, he gently takes Charles’ hand and unwraps the linen. “You wrapped it wrong. And it’s not going to do anything like this. . .” He takes a clean corner of the bandage and careful whines the cuts. He pulls a clean bandage from his pocket and his hand swiftly wrap Charles’ hand.
“Being a sailor, it was useful to carry around bandages. You never know when you may need to grab onto a flying rope. The bandages prevented rope burn, so obviously I had to learn how to wrap them.” He doesn’t look up at Charles, and when he finishes, he turns away again, facing the sea once more. “You should be able to move your hand freely and it shouldn’t cut open unless you want it too.”
(Apparently Cass can be nice or something-)
"Your coming out for a breath of fresh air was foolish. I-"
he stoped when Cass took his hand, he tried to pull it back, but found he could not escape, especially with how much pain it was in.
He watched as Cass unwrapped the soaked linen, the color draining from his face from the amount of blood lost. The cuts were deep and there were still tiny peaces of glass standing in the soft tissue.
“You wrapped it wrong. And it’s not going to do anything like this. . .” Charles heard cass say faintly. He reached out with his other hand and gripped Cass's shoulder to steady himself.
Cass sighs, “I can’t pull the glass, you’ll have to see a medic for that. But I can stanch the bleeding.” He tightens the bandage around Charles’ wrist, not too tight enough to stop the blood flow all together, but tight enough for the bleeding to slow.
He steps away, sighing, “I don’t care what they think of me, and you shouldn’t either. It I need a breath of fresh air so I don’t punch you or anyone else in the face. Though that’s normally outside my typical behavior of calm and collected, I don’t like people telling me when I can and can’t eat.” He gives the other man a look.
(Well, he’s just in a bad mood because he doesn’t want to get married. He’s usually a cheerful fellow)
(lol)
Charles sways, struggling not to show weakness in front of cass. And failing drastically.
HE took a deep breath and spoke slowly so as not to slur his words. "that's fine, but at an event like this one, people will serve you. they are quite literally payed to do it."
“Well. . .” He sighs, looking away, “That’s not the point. You could have just said, ‘Hey, Cassius, we have someone who will bring you food’ instead of slapping my hand away.”
He stares at the water, “And again, I’ll do whatever I please, because I don’t care what they think. It’s not like I made a big show about it. I just quietly left. They could have thought I needed to go to the bathroom or something. It’s you who decided to be dramatic.”
