Chapter 48
Previously:
When he gets back a little before tea time as promised, he feels… more at ease. More peaceful. Like the fresh air blew some cobwebs out of his brain. He puts Hannibal away, humming tunelessly as he enjoys brushing his horse- his horse- and feeding him treats, and making sure he’s comfortable and cosy in his stall, that everything is put away where it belongs. He knows how to take care of a horse’s tack now, too, he realizes with pleasure. Inside, the castle is pleasantly warm, and he’s just in time for tea and cake.
He gets his damp hair ruffled by Art, and a “Welcome home, son,” while Mariam and John pause in their lively discussion to greet him, too. It turns out to be a discussion about guns and women- somewhat roundabout, but as it goes on Arthur can still tell what womanly attributes they’re discussing the merits of different sizes of… He blushes, of course, and is happy to let Art distract him with questions about his ride, and draw him into a discussion of swords and horses instead.
And, Art remembers with a chuckle, Vlad brought that book he asked for. He passes along a necromancy text, and chuckles more at Arthur’s questioning look, tells him that’s what happens when you ask a vampire for healing and necromancy texts- he assumes that’s the same thing, and that you’re merely reminding him. That makes Arthur laugh with an “Oops!” as well. He’ll have to be more specific about what kind of healing he means, clearly!
~
After tea, Mariam and John break away again because, yes, they can have a discussion like this, but it’s still easier without having to mince words and they both didn’t know how much they’d enjoy it. Somebody who understands them and doesn’t mind talking about a topic like that with a completely different perspective. John feels the oddest kind of validated as a man by it and honestly pleased that he can help Mariam feel seen as a Sapphic and not broken because of it.
Then she says she wonders if he wouldn’t explain some things about the male body to her.
Did she really just?
John definitely does his flustered routine, but okay, apparently now he’s off to talk about smut with his new friend.
~
Art just laughs after them, glad to see that, apparently, they both are genuinely happy with who they’ll end up marrying now that they both know it’s just for show. He gets back to his own room for a bit, it’s night in Romania by now and he wants his bit of private time with his wife at least through the blood bond, but promises Arthur to be up for more card games after dinner.
Dinner starts out sounding like a copy of tea, with even worse language bending from John and Mariam, who are at the point of making in-jokes and teasing each other but try their hardest to rein it in for Arthur. By the time the group has gotten a bit less raucous after repeated card games it’s late, well into the night, and Art is starting to throw some worried glances towards the windows from time to time.
Which means he catches a glimpse of massive white wings, even out in the dark, and now he’s curious, also yes, worries a bit, still.
It turns out he didn’t need to, as Radu’s mental voice asks gently: “My apologies for the intrusion into your private thoughts, but could somebody please open the balcony door for us?” There is a slight pause, and then his amusement is audible even in his thoughts: “It would appear we both have our hands full.”
~
Noticing Art’s attention stuck on something outside this time, Arthur gives him a questioning look.
With a headshake, Art snorts.
“Our two dracs, as John calls them, appear to be stuck on the balcony. Who wants to open the door for them?”
Mariam and John both look curious, too, but then converge their look on Arthur.
“Sugar, go let your two cuties in,” Mariam tells him.
Arthur blushes, but gets up- he supposes at least one of them is his, in a fashion, so maybe he’s attached to the other, too… He heads over to the balcony and opens the door for them, curious why they didn’t just open it themselves.
~
Quincy couldn’t open the door because he is holding a large satchel, even holds it markedly away from Radu, who couldn’t open the door because his hands are occupied with holding Quincy in a bridal carry.
Retracting his wings fully, Radu nods at Arthur, but Quincy’s greeting isn’t as reserved. He sounds suspiciously similar to Darcy, (yes, yes, he’s aware,) as he bounces out of Radu’s arms with a squeal and instantly leans in to kiss Arthur hello.
“I’m back, honey! Tell me you missed me! And if you didn’t, I still got you something.”
The moment he said it, he has to turn again to tut at Radu.
“Please, Moonshine, really? Still with the jealousy after all of today; Phew, how much more of me could you possibly get unless you let me touch you?”
That makes Radu blush so furiously that he decides to wander off to the side of the balcony. Quincy will take that as a win.
~
If Radu hadn’t reacted that way, Arthur probably would’ve just thought Quincy meant spending lots of time together… but that makes him think there’s somehow more meaning attached, which he doesn’t really understand, but is okay not understanding, he’s blushing as it is, and, well Quincy is… bouncy and chirpy? And that’s kind of… nice? He smiles at him. “Welcome back! Um… I missed you the last few hours?” he tells him truthfully.
“You’re always so earnest!” Quincy tells him with a laugh and another kiss. “Now close your eyes and hold your hands out!”
“Hope that’s not a bad thing,” Arthur says and does as he’s told.
“Oh hush, honey.” There’s some rustling then Quincy places something not too heavy into Arthur’s hand that feels like it is packaged in paper.
Arthur feels along it- it feels like… a box with curved edges, maybe?
“Can I open my eyes now?”
“Yes, I want to see your reaction.” Then Quincy giggles and adds: “Happy ten day anniversary, Arthur.”
Arthur opens his eyes and looks at the object in his hands. He pulls off the thick wrapping paper, to find it is a box- and it’s heart-shaped, which makes him blush, of course. He’s feeling embarrassed and happy at the same time, laughs himself, gives Quincy a smile.
“Um… thank you?”
Without the paper, he can detect a faint, sweet smell, and peeks into the box to see chocolates inside, nice-looking ones bedded in fancy, silky paper. “Oh,” he makes, appreciatively.
~
“I was wandering around Vienna and there are all these little coffee shops and chocolatiers, so obviously I had to bring my boyfriend a box of pralines!”
Beaming at Arthur and that adorable blush, Quincy leans in to give him yet another kiss.
“Here’s to a lot more anniversaries!”
“There’ll be lots if we go in ten-day increments,” Arthur points out with a snicker, and leans up to give Quincy a kiss of his own. “Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying them! But maybe not when Radu’s around…” He glances over to the end of the balcony.
Very pleased with now getting kisses, too, and showing that with a smug grin, Quincy winks at Arthur as he leans in close to whisper: “Whose money do you think did I use to buy them for you? And who assured me he’d be fine with helping to carry them over for you? So yes, be nice to him.”
~
Finally, his beloved focuses back on him.
“Come inside, Moonshine.”
As Quincy walks past Arthur, putting distance between him and the sweets undoubtedly, he holds his hand out and yes, Radu is right on it at more than human speed, craving the touch. Realising that, yes, indeed, rather than fearing Quincy’s touch he wants it, needs it, Radu feels the blush flaring right back up, but it is true. After this day, how could he possibly fear so much as holding hands when he got shown so much trust and so much strength?
~
Arthur makes sure to close the box and wrap it back up in the paper to keep the smell as contained as possible, and heads inside, too, sets it down in the furthest corner of the room from Radu.
~
Heading back to the smoking room, after Radu told Quincy where the others are, he grins widely at them, voice still half a trill, then puts the satchel down to be able to stick his free hand inside.
“Now, Arthur gets boyfriend privileges, so the rest of you have to share, but I brought you something from the Continent!”
He pulls out a bottle of schnapps and grins as Art whistles in appreciation. Now that’s the kind of understanding that he is being very thoughtful he wants.
What is his darling up to now? He can see him lean close to Mariam, whisper something that has her burst into laughter. Curious, but also, apparently that wasn’t quiet enough for Radu’s hearing, going by the flustered sound he makes as he avoids eye contact with John at all costs. Will Quincy ever have to ask! After he reins those two in a bit, for the good of his poor flustered voivode.
~
Arthur is still happy to see John and Mariam getting along so well now, but he’s getting the sense they might become a bit of a terror team in the near future…
“Darling…” Quincy taps his foot as he glares at John. “You forget that I have plenty of ammunition against you. If you insist on being mean, you picked the wrong battle.”
That does shut John up, but makes Mariam laugh only harder.
~
Art gives up, these teens are incorrigible and he really is the wrong person to be on the moral high horse here. Ergo, he gets up to grab the schnapps.
But clearly, the dracs, (damn, he took that over from John,) aren’t done yet.
Quincy produces one more thing from the satchel and grins rather roguishly when he shows it to everybody without saying a word. The title of the book reads: “Courts, Midlands, and Unseelie”. Getting Radu to help him with it, he flips it open to a marked page and points at a genealogy, handwritten in utter perfection. Two of the lowermost names read Eluned and Llew.
Damn, jackpot, that should get them somewhere, but they are being quiet about it apparently, so Art just give a very appreciative thumbs up.
~
Arthur’s eyes widen- now that seems like useful information. He glances at Radu to see whether he’s going to establish some mental talking on how they can use it.
~
Having waited on the implicit permission, Radu opens the conversation by telling them that they should make copies of the parts they want.
“This is Felodiau’s personal notebook, which he was willing to lend to us after he and căldură mea went through what I can only describe as insult tango. It was rather shocking but fascinating to watch, I confess, and I am not surprised in the least that my fiancé was able to negotiate this out for us. We should be able to gain knowledge of all the current rulers and at least some of the geographical delineations. Also,” he flips the page again, “would somebody please get a copy of this to Quincy’s mother? I am not certain if it will indeed help her in her plight, but while we have access, I would like to offer the aid.”
The page shows Thrathnona’s family tree and some information about the Unseelie realm currently held by Baobhan.
~
Mariam’s look at that book is nothing short of dirty as she holds her hands out for it. That display has John snort, and he’s very glad their entire dynamic has changed over the course of the day, this would have felt uncomfortable just yesterday, but now he can quip at it:
“Okay, yeah, I should have known you don’t chase pants. No way would you ever look at me like that.”
She smacks him over the head but doesn’t disagree. And why should she, John has tried fucking hard to show her that he’s absolutely okay with her being who she is. In fact, it’s honestly kind of wicked to have somebody to talk to in that way he always thought guys talk to each other. Typical his weird life, that it ends up being a sapphic rather than his bro, but then, talking tits with Quincy would be an exercise in how green he can get him. Fun in it’s own right, but not the same way.
And obviously, not a topic for Arthur. Although, there’s a little bit of similarity to Mariam there, Arthur looks like a hound on a scent, leaning forward and nearly bouncing on his toes.
“I volunteer, too! Surely we can use two copies. Also, I read really fast.”
~
Art chuckles while he considers if schnapps is too much for a vampire, and rather errs on the side of caution.
“Looks like you two will be occupied for a while. So, making an appointment with Lucy Jr. is the next step. Think we can use any of that knowledge as blackmail?”
“It certainly shows how truly fur blooded Llew is, and potentially a proclivity towards that in his mother. If that constitutes blackmail, however, is unclear to my understanding of fae,” Radu explains, and Art doesn’t overlook that he only just about lets go of Quincy’s hand long enough to hand the book to Mariam and Arthur.
~
“I mean… being offended is an emotion, isn’t it?” Arthur thinks at Radu. “And fae don’t really do emotions unless with a contract, so I’m not sure how much something like that impacts them…”
He glances at Mariam, then to the table to ask with his look whether she wants to get started right away- he certainly does!
Solving that problem because Mariam is already leafing through the book, John shoves the table closer to her.
~
“There you go, Hawken!”
She gives him a happy grin, both at not even having to move, and at having something so silly as a pet name from a guy she now believes wholeheartedly will never try to sleep with her.
~
Radu, meanwhile, nods at Arthur.
“Which is why I do not know if this would work. If it is something that might weaken their claims or power, it would be a tool. If we count on offending them, I suspect we are empty handed.”
“So that’s a question for Lucy Jr. to answer.”
Arthur takes his own seat at the table, pulls out his notebook from the notebook holster he’s now wearing, and gets started copying down the family tree- being able to talk to people without looking at them is kind of neat. Not that he couldn’t also, if talking out loud, but it’d feel ruder, for some reason.
~
“Let’s leave those two to the copying. It’s getting late anyway, and Vienna is a long way away. Quincy, get some late night dinner into you before you fall out of your corset,” Art tells him and doesn’t take the huff as an answer. “You’ve been around a vampire all day long; don’t think I’m not suspecting you of having skipped meals.”
Oh god, Art has to hold in a snort when Radu suddenly looks worried enough for Art to completely forget that he is looking at a fearsome voivode. The man is a tad too obviously smitten head over heels.
“Caldura mea! I completely forgot. Please, listen to your… father figure.”
~
“Dad,” Arthur thinks at Radu. “The term you’re looking for is ‘dad’. Also, how long do we have this journal?” Arthur is very tempted to try to copy all of it…
~
“Thank you, my apologies for my lacking English skills.”
Even while Radu says this to Arthur with a slight bow, he straightens his shoulders and puts his hands on Quincy’s back to push him out of the room.
“Go, please, I can converse with you through the walls. Your mind is always close to mine. Please, see to the things I cannot help you with.”
To his relief, Quincy allows him to shove him, although he does resist for a moment to quickly snatch the satchel, and certainly, his dear feisty dhampir would not go without some banter.
“Moonshine, you make it sound as if I’ll starve from a skipped meal or two. I’m supposed to be the dramatic one here!”
Only after Quincy left does Radu dare to turn his focus back to Arthur.
“He was not specific about it. I am afraid I cannot give you a concrete answer, so please see to the important points first, then copy the rest that piques your curiosity.”
~
Arthur nods to Radu, can’t help a quip of: “So everything- but yes, important stuff first!” and gets back to it before he slows down Mariam. And he would’ve kept going with it all night, since apparently, they don’t know how long they’ll have access to the journal, but Art shoos them to bed eventually, points out they’re yawning more than writing, anyway.
Not that he’s going to sleep, he’s talking Court politics with Radu- but Arthur has to acknowledge that he’s right about the yawning, and how his eyes just want to close, and Art gets up later than he does, so… He says his good nights and trudges to his room- then smiles on finding Quincy already asleep in his bed. So he gets washed up very quietly, and then climbs in to cuddle up to his boyfriend. His boyfriend who brought him chocolates, which he’ll have to retrieve from the smoking room tomorrow to try them. He’s looking forward to that, he decides. And Quincy should be there so he can enjoy Arthur’s emotions while he does. He yawns, leans another bit more into the warmth of Quincy’s body, and then falls asleep.
— To be continued in “Eternity and a Night” —
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