"I would burn the world for you" (OxO Closed)

"I didn't make this for me–" Bel objects softly, batting away at the food. "But if you're so inclined to force me to eat–" Bel reaches for the smallest wrap of the three, practically a half. "Will you be happy if I eat this?" He won't have to eat anything else for hours, he likely won't even be that hungry for dinner, but now is all that matters. He bites into the small wrap.

"Is it so bad to have a little bit of a sweet tooth?" Bel inquires with a mischievous grin.

Bel's rarely hungry. He's never felt obligated to eat, especially in front of an audience. The presence at the dining table was suffocating. Bel always stared at his plate of half-eaten food before quickly excusing himself to sit alone in his room, strumming at a lyre or growing some plants. He supposes all those years of hardly eating at all transferred to his current state. Through the journey to the camp, he had been fine, but then he learned the truth. Then his siblings showed up and bad memories resurfaced and that perfect bubble was ruptured and Bel isn't hungry anymore.

Bel takes a few slow bites, chewing them thoroughly so it's easy to swallow. Once he's taken his share, he sets the remainder down on the tray. He'll likely pick it up again in the next few moments. He looks over to Nico with an inquisitive glare. "What are you doing?" He says, halfway between a laugh and a question. Nevertheless, he opens his mouth to see what the other man has planned.

Bel takes the sweet carefully, brushing his teeth and tongue gently across Nico's fingers. "Thank you," he says quietly after he's done chewing. He licks at his lips, never once looking away from Nico's face. He brings his arms to lightly rest around Nico's torso, shifting so he's almost at eye level with Nico.

He wishes they had more time. After these two days, they'll be on the road for a week. At least after that they'll have two and a half months to lice together in the palace–that is, if Bel's cousins opens her gates to him. The Blakkian border had been closed for nearly a decade, but with new royalty comes change; Bel prays Sella will be kind enough to house them.

Bels eyes widen as he's unexpectedly pulled into a passionate kiss. His eyes close; his hands move from around Nico's torso, looping his arms gently around his neck. Eventually Bel has to pull away, gasping for air. His eyes are stil closed as he tips his forehead against Nico's. He already knows tonight will be an adventurous one.

"Mm." He hums softly. "As much as I enjoyed that, you have a lunch to eat and I won't be the cause of you starving." He shifts to press his lips to Nico's cheekbone before leaning back.

"Well, imagine what I could do with a full kitchen and a complete rack of spices," Bel smiles. The wrap was a simple thing. For their next dinner he's going to try a grand meal with an entree and sides and a desert–he won't be able to eat it, but at least Nico will be able to. Sighing, Bel rests his head on Nico's shoulder.

"I don't think your advisors would appreciate my presence," Bel says quietly. "I'm sure my brother was enough of my bloodline for them to handle." As much as he would love to sit there with Nico with their arms around each other, Bel could make himself useful and help Miran with the letters. "I think I'll go to assist Miran and ensure he doesn't use any obscene profanity in his letters." Slowly, Bel releases his hold on Nico and goes to stand.

Bel doesn't doubt it. He doesn't doubt for a second that Nico wouldn't burn the world for him. Is it entirely melodramatic? Yes. Does it squeeze at Bel's heart? Also yes. Bel's never been one to accept gifts, especially when he's already had everything he's wanted, but he finds himself readily accepting anything Nico would get him.

"And I'm not asking you to," Bel responds softly. He's standing now and reaching for the tray with their leftovers. Three of the brownies went uneaten, and Bel would hate to waste them. Instead of putting them with the rest of the waste on the tray, Bel places them neatly on a napkin and sits them in front of Nico. "If you ever get hungry during your meeting," he explains. Before he leaves, Bel kisses Nico softly, allowing it to linger as he pulls away. "I'll see you later, love."

He smiles, ducking out of the tent with their trey. It's only when he's a few steps away does he wonder where they'll meet next. The dining tent? Nico's tent? Well, those are the only two likely options. He doubts Nico would have Bel meet him in a stranger's tent. After stopping by the kitchens to clean the trey and dispose of the waste, Bel meets his siblings in their temporary tent.

"Bel," Miran greets as he looks up from his papers. There's about a hundred crumpled paper balls around him and Val looks about one more discarded draft from an act of violence. "Thank the gods, come here. I need your wordsmithing."

(timeskip to when nico and bel are together again or nah?)

By the time the sun sets, Bel's successfully helped his siblings write three letters. There's one to Queen Tacia in Irgeven, another to Duke Pietro of Cobrass and the last to Lord Went of Lumiere. The one sent to Sella had been taken away the night before. Bel prays that Sella's response will come quick and the rest of the receivers will serve their cause.

They had finished their drafting early and didn't take long to send their final letters. It gave the siblings time with each other. Bel braided Treya's hair, Val read one of her books and Miran paced up and down the room. He's ranting and Bel can't help but smile at the nostalgia.

Eventually, Bels siblings begin to prepare for bed. Val comes by with a tray of food for them to eat in privacy. Relizing that this means Nivo is likely done with his meetings, Bel excuses himself and into the chilled night. He quickly finds himself back at the war tent, slowly moving the tent flaps aside to see if Nico is still in there.

He finds Nico sitting in front of far too many papers. Nico looks even more tired, if that's even possible. Bel's lips press together. He's going to get a sleeping tonic. He needs to. It hurts him to see Nico so exhausted.

Bel smiles and takes a few steps into the tent, allowing the flaps to close behind him. "Well, I had a feeling that you would be in here. Working away, you workaholic." He goes in close, leaning in to deliver a quick kiss to Nico's nose and then his lips. "It's late. We need to go to bed." He reaches to grab at Nico's hands, pulling him up and out of his chair.

On the other hand, Bel is trying his best to quell his nerves. He didn't have much of an issue getting to the tent, but in the short moments he was occupied with easily prying Nico from his work, they must have turned all the lanterns out. To keep himself at least somewhat sane, he squeezes Nico's hand a little tighter and stares at the bright half-moon lingering above them. Luckily, they're quick to arrive back into their tent and Bel's shoulders relax.

As soon as they're both securely in the tent and the flaps are shut and tied behind them, Bel doesn't wait to lean in and capture Nico's lips in a much more heated kiss that greatly contrasts their previous one. "I missed you today," Bel says when he pulls away.

Bel smiles into their kiss as he's lifted from the ground. Excitement coils in his gut; it's been far too long. "No interruptions?" He inquires as he notices he's being brought into the bedroom. Remembering how their last encounter ended isn't entirely something Bel would like to remember. A witchhunter, his gruesome gang, a few revealed secrets, and an existential crisis. They're fine–for the most part–and it's really not something Bel would like to think about now.

He's set on the bed with a small oof, but it's quickly swallowed. He hums into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Nico's neck as he pulls the other man even closer.

Bel's eyes are only opened for a moment before Nico takes up all of his vision. He finds himself smiling as well. It's so perfect–all of it. There's no more secrets, no more lies–only them. Only them, together and alone in this perfect bubble. Part of Bel wants to say that he doesn't deserve this, doesn't deserve to be swallowed up entirely by someone as bright and powerful as Nico.

Any sort of thought is halted with a groan as there's a sudden pressure between his legs. His head tips back and out of the kiss, eyes shut. "Well," he manages to breathe after a second. He cracks his eyes open, staring up with half-lids at Nico. "Shall we?"

Bel follows the order, slowly stretching his arms above his head as he allows Nico to slowly undress him. His skin is too hot and too cold all at once as he's exposed to the night air. It's almost too slow. Bel wants to squirm and tell Nico to hurry the hell up, but he keeps his mouth shut. He's going to be patient. He's going to allow Nico to take his time.

But when it's only his shirt removed and it feels like an hour has passed, Bel stares up at Nico, almost pleadingly. "You're going slow," he notes, breathless.

"Can't you do it–" A hitch of his breath. "Just a little quicker?" His skin is covered in goosebumps, the cold air and the anticipation working in tandem to put every single one of Bel's nerves on fire. He finds himself titling his head, allowing Nico as much access as possible to his neck. After one particularly thrilling lovebite, Bel's arms and hands immediately find home around Nico's neck and atop of his shoulders. He mightve been told to keep them above his head, but surely thT instruction can't be valid anymore.

One of his hands curl into Nico's hair, tugging softly on the strands. Bels eyes are close again, the lids for too heavy to keep fully open.

Bel laughs at the comment, but it's mostly without air. Just a quiet wheeze sort of thing. "You're to blame for making me like this," he explains, a smile breaking onto his face as he stares up at Nico. And it's true. He had been so timid, so shy and passive but now Bel's mostly sure of what he wants, and thats Nico on him at all times. He had no idea that he had missed this man his entire life, the perfect half to connect with his. "We've been waiting too long–" He tries, at least hoping there will be some reason that will cause Nico to hurry. "Please?" Hopefully the added plead would convince him.