Level_5

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

I can manage to not kill off NPCs, I promise. xD

And if you want to do it this time, I'd be grateful! I'll not be timid next time, cross my heart, but I want to see this in action before I commit to doing it, too.

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Pet. The nickname had never bothered Asbel before. He'd been able to shrug it off as the snide remarks of a young man who was of little importance. But tonight, something in the prince's acidic tone dug beneath the surface of skin like a tick. The itch was slight, but as Frey spoke again -- Nothing but a pet -- Asbel bit back a flash of deepening irritation.

Frey didn't care about anyone but himself. Of course the brat would complain and expect everyone else to fix his problems for him. He was spoiled, selfish, utterly unfixable. What a bully -- what a monster.

Heedless of the young man's brief stint of near-politeness, of his half-visible worry, Asbel lurched forward even as Frey freed himself from the phoenix's grasp. Green eyes nearly glowed with anger as he seized the prince's arms, pinned them to his sides.

"All this because you are jealous of rooms?" he hissed, calm tone lost at last. "You care so little for anything beyond yourself that you are bothered by the state of your room?" Smoking fingers burned into the fabric of the prince's shirt. "Your family would love you, if you gave them reason. You would have servants, if they gave you reason. But you are petty and rude and selfish and I may be the same age as you, but I will never be so stupid as to think that I am all that matters in this palace. I give you and your family immortality, and I might very well take it away, you deserve it so little!"

Something sparked in his thoughts, then -- a lightning-strike of understanding. The dark -- was that really what had so spooked Frey when he entered the room? Was the prince afraid of the dark? Of all things, the dark?

"When you stop being an insufferable brat, I will turn the lights back on," he growled, his own glow flickering. "I could take away all the light in this whole palace, you know. How patient do you think I'll be if you continue to insult me?"

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

( Sorry for the late reply! It's been a busy week! D: I'll post tonight, though, ASAP! )

For NPCs, I'm used to the creator of the NPC being the one to control them, but if you'd rather have a shared pool, I'm alright with that as well. Do tell me if I ever use one of yours out of character, though, please.

And if there's one you want me to put in now, speak up or I won't get the hint, ha ha.

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

The prince's whispered response was nearly too soft to hear, and Asbel leaned closer, wary, to hear his response. The answer, when he heard it, brought a thin, tight frown to his mouth. Of course Frey would want to be the best of all his siblings. Of course the youngest would be so desperate for that which would be so difficult to achieve.

"You can't--" The prince yanked his arm, freeing it from Asbel's slight grasp, and the phoenix panicked. If Frey got away from him in the dark, he could do anything -- and Asbel lurched forward, grabbed, as chance would have it, the prince's collar. No, that was too aggressive a hold -- he let go at once and caught instead the young man's face: a hand against either side of his jaw, warming the sharp bones beneath his fingertips. Perhaps the prince would not be so quick to squirm out of a hold that could damage him more severely.

"You," he replied, voice again low and steady despite his fluttering pulse, "You humans are not born with talents. Gifts are not rained down on those who do not develop them. All you have done, Prince Frey, is teach yourself to be callous and cruel. If you want anything out of your life besides that, you teach yourself to do something different. Put your tongue to a better use: be a diplomat. Unwind the need for an army altogether. Fight demons outside yourself." He tightened his grasp, tilted the prince's head, and forced Frey to meet his gaze. "Bullying in the dark? Harassing your servants? You are a prince. You are better than that."

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Ah, that's alright! I'm not upset or anything at all, I promise. And don't worry about being busy; it's definitely that time of year.

I'll see if I can respond tonight, toooooo~

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Despite the apparent fear in the prince's expression, the young man's responses were sharp enough, and Asbel doubted Frey was truly frightened. Though his rapid breathing and the rioting pulse beneath the phoenix's fingertips suggested otherwise. What was the prince so afraid of, if not Asbel? Why would the bully, the brute, the insufferable child be afraid of anything?

"What I want doesn't matter," he retorted, tone smooth even as Frey's sought to cut. "I owe the debt of a lifetime to your family, and even if you are a brat and a nuisance, I cannot go back on my word." His fingers tightened around the prince's wrist -- hot as his temper flared, if not hot enough to blister. The corona of light around his body brightened momentarily, though he did not seem to notice.

"And you lie to me. If you wanted only money, you would be happy. Yet you make my life and your siblings' lives miserable. A happy man does not spread discontent." Asbel pushed the prince back a step, squeezing his wrist in unrelenting intensity. Neither one of them would leave this room until this mess was sorted. "So tell me plainly, prince -- what do you want? If not friends or fellow kindness, then what?"

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

The phoenix recoiled as Frey made to embrace him a second time, but the prince pulled away on his own, and Asbel was left with only the warmth of a wrist in his grasp, the shadow of heat on his chest and shoulders from the prince's unintended embrace. What had that near-hug been? An attempt to fight back against his captor? An instinctual reaction to attack a rebelling castle pet? Then why the retreat?

But Frey had, briefly, come across as panicked. Surely he wasn't surprised to find that Asbel had more magical talents than just turning into a man. Surely the dark did not frighten a young man who made it his mission to frighten all other beings in the castle. Or perhaps...

But as the prince's tone deepened in sincerity, Asbel tightened his hold. Surely this was a trick after all. Frey was no more afraid of the dark than his siblings. This new heated posturing was residual anger still -- not true shyness or true respect.

Yet the honesty -- whatever the source -- the honesty was unquestionable, and the phoenix slowly loosened his fingers from the prince's arm. He retained contact, fingertips against the prince's racing pulse, just in case he needed again to deflect Frey's advances.

"The value of the gold is not diminished by the value of the fountain," he whispered, almost gentle. "And the pirate's perception of the gold is not the fault of the fountain." He hesitated, intending to leave his answer there, but words rose unbidden in his throat: "And as long as I've known you, Asbel, you've only been gold in looks; the rest of the time, you are cruel and sharp and that adds tarnish all its own."

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Though he sat on the floor at the foot of his bed, listening with all his being, Asbel did not hear Frey's arrival until the prince was halfway past the threshold. The phoenix leapt to his feet, and nearly bolted for the open window, as much good as that would do. But no-- no. If he did not hold his ground, this would never end and Frey would be completely out of control forever. There was a possibility, a very real possibility, that Frey would only stop when Asbel was dead.

So the phoenix rose as Frey strode closer, his expression stone and his body still. Then a hand-- a hand on his shoulder, and Asbel closed his fingers around the prince's wrist to forestall further contact. The lights, with a gesture, he extinguished and the room plunged into darkness. Only his own glow, as faint as distant starlight, could he not put out.

"Tell me what you want from me." His voice, though soft, was not gentle. No longer as tame as a hearth-fire, he would brook no further assault. His hand warmed around the prince's wrist, though not yet hot enough to burn. "I will not hurt you, but neither will you hurt me, Prince Frey."

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

After some searching, Asbel managed to find an used stick of incense, which was just strong enough to spear the fruit, and with the fruit so impaled, the phoenix carried it to the open window and flung it outside. If it was poisonous, hopefully the wild animals in the gardens beyond would have enough sense to leave it be. He dipped his fingers in the bowl of rosewater on his bedside table, just to be on the safe side, and against the encroaching darkness of gathering night, he lit with a wave of his hand the braziers lining the perimeter of the room. He could extinguish them with an identical wave; let Frey, if he did venture back down to Asbel's room, know blindness -- helplessness.

---

Aren ventured a shy smile at the praise. He'd never realized Frey had the capacity to be so kind. The prince came across as so... so prickly, but maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Maybe the rumors in the kitchens and around the washing basins had been exaggerated.

"I'm just glad I could help." He set the towel on the ledge long enough to wipe his hands on his jerkin, and began, as he reached to pick it up again, to add, "I didn't expect you to be so--"

Let's say... I smashed your head into the glass!

Aren recoiled as if struck already. He staggered away from Frey, color draining again from his face until he was as pale as the walls. "Sorry, sir," he managed, "but I-- I've got to go my apologies excuse me." He ducked, just in case the prince lunged for him, and as fast as he could, as hard as he could, he sprinted toward the door and the safety of the hall beyond.

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Aw, why thank you! :3 I like making the cute ones, ha ha.

No worries, take your time! It's the weekend, after all. (: