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Mordecai didn’t state for very long, instead letting his gaze fall back to Levi’s face.
“Some of them are smaller lap dogs. They just like to wander around the castle and get fat,” Levi chuckled. “Boris and Alexei are only two of the many hunting dogs we have.”
"I like Boris." Fi smiled a little, relaxing as Mordecai turned his gaze back to Levi. He'd been slouching under the attention but now he straightened to his full height, head high and shoulders back. "He is a very nice man. I would like to have many conversations with him."
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Levi laughed out loud at that. “We’ve been trying to get him to have a conversation with us for years. He’d be a very good advisor, but we haven’t had any luck yet.”
Mordecai’s lips pulled into a wide and amused smile.
Johan glared at the small party heading upstairs. There was no hope for his plan, not as things were now. He curled his hands into fists, and when questioned by the guards, stormed away towards one of the other rooms downstairs. He needed a take a bath.
Fi laughed. "Yes, yes, you get it!" His smile was, for the first time since Cadmus had died, genuine. This place was beautiful and clean and it felt like a new beginning. Nothing about it reminded him of what had happened*, only what could happen, and it left him feeling lighter somehow. "He seems like he'd have some insights if he weren't too busy licking everyone to tell them."
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“Hah! We keep trying to tell him that but he just won’t listen,” Levi snickered as he turned the corner into another hallway. The farther they went, the more private the atmosphere seemed to become. The light was dimmer, with less windows and more oil lamps on the walls. “This is my youngest brother’s room,” Levi informed, leaning to lightly pat the wooden door. “He’s probably outside right now.” With each step, Levi felt a weight being lifted off his chest. Everything was familiar, everything was as he knew, and he didn’t have to fear anyone. Even Johan would be put in his lesser place soon enough.
Fiori took everything in with a small smile, trying to piece it together. Widonians seemed so strange to him. Even in the most obviously private parts of the castle things were lavish, too fine to suit his tastes or to put him at ease. His uncle would love this place. So would Cadmus, for that matter. He'd always adored finery. Gods, he was the only reason in the world Fi even bought nice things, and…. and now he wouldn't even be here, in a country he'd have loved. His whole mood sank. "So… Leviticus. Tell me about your brothers."
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“My brothers,” Levi echoed softly as he trailed the lines in the walls with his gaze. “Well, you already know Johan. I think he’s the one you fought in the battlefield that time. And then my younger brother Mikhail is practically joined at his hip. He’s not as feisty, but he’s an aspiring fighter with a love for the natural world.”
“He’s getting pretty good at the bow,” Mordecai piped up. “If he keeps at it, he might be the lead archer some day.”
"I see." Fi nodded. He'd never had any siblings of his own, but then again family wasn't emphasized the way it was here. There weren't any heirs, so there wasn't much of a need for a big family. "Your younger brother… he's not close with you? I'd have thought you'd be his favorite, you're the nice one."
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Levi pursed his lips thoughtfully. “We’re all close. Or, at least we were. Mikhail and I are still pretty close, but I was his favorite until he got older. Mikhail’s interests are just closer to Johan’s, I suppose. What else do you want to know about them?” His bedroom was at the end of the hallway, and they were getting close.
Fiori hummed. "Nothing really, I just… do not know much about you. My family was very different from yours, much more… chosen. It is interesting to hear about a new way of life, especially when it will also help me get to know you better."
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“Hmm, that is true,” Levi considered it, and nodded. He didn’t know very much about Fiori either. Sure, he knew about his family, friends and basic knowledge for the most part. But he had yet to learn the part of Fiori that his friends in Usige knew well. “I’ll be happy to teach you, then.”
Levi stopped at the door closest to his own, brushing his hand across the wood. There was a leafless tree etched into the cedar. “This is Johan’s room, but it will be yours in a matter of days. Hopefully shorter.”
Fi nodded. Learning about this country, its customs and laws, would be invaluable to him. Even if he couldn't keep himself from sticking out, he could kee himself from looking like the barbarian everyone thought he was. And we would get to bond with Leviticus. "And I will be happy to learn, my friend."
He took in the rooms that would be his with interest, reaching forward to trace his hand over the wood alongside Levi. "I see. Does this mean something?" He pressed his fingers against the tree."
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Mordecai raised an eyebrow, wondering why Levi was offering out Johan’s room. He hadn’t heard any of Levi’s plan, but he supposed he would be filled in soon.
“The bare tree represents winter here,” Levi explained. “Our most important season for prayer and reflection.” He let his hand fall back to his side. “Would you like to take a look inside?” If Johan had not betrayed him so terribly, Levi wouldn’t even think of violating his brother’s privacy by letting an outsider tour his room.
Fi nodded to the explanation and then took a second to pause at the offer. He didn't like the idea of going into another person's room uninvited, but Levi was the true prince, and it wasn't like they would be Johan's rooms for much longer. "That would be nice," he murmured, reaching over to grab the handle and push the doors open lightly. "I take it not much will be changed?"
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Upon entering, the room smelled like a cocktail of hickory smoke and perfume. A thick fur rug flanked the bed, which was surrounded by heavy curtains to block out any light from the adjacent window. A couple shelves lined the walls keeping leather bound books that had likely not been opened for decades. The majority of the decoration in the room were swords, and daggers with ornamented handles. “Not unless you want to make changes to it,” Levi replied.
(Quick plot idea, what if Johan gets attacked in the baths for treason by some of the angry nobles/guards or guards? Levi could learn about it by one of the guards who wants him to break it up)
(Yes! Maybe he gets rushed into passing judgement and then Fi kinda gets flung together with Johan while Levi struggles to figure out the full implications of what he's done?)
Fi wrinkled up his nose at the scent. The room certainly looked comfortable, besides the smell, but it wasn't realy to his tastes. Far too big, with furniture that looked too expensive for him to feel comfortable owning. The weapons were finely wrought, but similarly expensive, and while they all seemed to be quite well taken care of they were not the sort he would feel comfortable using. "I think I will have to. This place is… strangely kept. I have always preferred something simpler. And better taken care of."
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(Yess perfect! And the guard could interrupt Levi Fiori and Mordecai sometime during the castle tour)
Levi nodded, taking a scan of the room. Almost nothing had changed since he left. Even the smoking embers in the fireplace looked the same as the night he was abducted. “Of course. You’re free to change whatever you’ll need to be comfortable. When the time comes of course.”
Mordecai couldn’t conceal his curiosity any longer. “Why is this man taking Johan’s room? Not that I care.”
Levi turned to face Mordecai, and hesitated before replying. “I’ll tell you more details later, but Johan is going to be punished for his actions.”
Mordecai’s lips pressed into an even more inquisitive smile, and he tilted his head to one side. “Oh, but of course.”
(Yes!!)
"When the time comes," he echoed quietly, moving closer to the wall of weaponry. Beautiful but impractical, a theme Johan seemed to think warranted repeating if the gaudy mural in the hall was anything to go by. He was still looking at the blades pensively when Levi and Mordecai started talking, wrapped up in his own concerns. Johan would be more difficult to handle than Levi, less prone to reason and about a million times more likely to kill him in his sleep. "I suppose I'll be installed in your palace somehow?"
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Levi brushed his shoulder against Mordecai’s while the conversation pulled into silence. It was only for a moment though, and Levi turned his attention back to Fiori when he spoke. “Somehow,” he agreed. “I don’t know exactly how, but I’ll think of something. For now, at least, you’re my guest.”
"Perhaps as a guard?" Fiori shrugged, turning back to Levi with a frown. "It's all I can see myself succeeding at here," he admitted. "Your country is beautiful, but it is very alien to me and I would surely fail were I to attempt to navigate its intricacies."
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“A guard, yes.” Levi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You have my trust, but I don’t know how the other guards would react to you. It would take some getting used to.”
Mordecai wrapped his arm around Levi’s shoulder. He wasn’t so sure about a Usigen in his country, especially as a job, but he trusted Levi.
"Perhaps… personal guard? Or body guard?" He shrugged. There would certainly be less hassle for him if the only person he really had to hang out with was Levi, which was definitely a bonus. Plus it would give him an excuse to stay close. "It would require less contact with other people. And you know I would protect you.
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Levi mulled over the option for a few more moments. “The others would only have to get used to seeing you around instead of being pressured to get along.” Although, with that came also Johan. He could also be spending a good amount of time with his brother depending on if Fiori decided to keep him close or not.
Mordecai pressed his lips together in disapproval. He turned his gaze to Fiori. “I don’t like that. How do I know I can trust you around my crown prince and future king?”
Fi smiled and nodded. "Yes, and it would give us time to talk. I don't doubt that you'll be busy, it will be… nice. I would not relish a lonely life here, no matter how beautiful my surroundings."
He frowned a little at Mordecai's complaint, turning to face him. His eyebrows were drawn together, equally confused and displeased. "Did I not prove myself when I safely bore your prince out of danger? When I delivered him whole and unharmed into your arms? When I stepped into his home and handed him my weapons and spoke to him as I would any other friend?"
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“Certainly not, I wouldn’t wish that for you,” Levi replied, but he trailed off as Fiori and Mordecai started talking.
“Yes, and I’m grateful for that.” Mordecai pulled his arm away from Levi to cross his arms across his chest. “But if you were only returning him why are you staying? Why are you taking a prince’s room and being installed into the palace?” Granted, he knew Johan should be replaced in the bedroom, but why was it an Usigen? “Forgive my suspicion, but it seems I’m being left in the dark.”
“I’m going to tell you everything,” Levi said, taking a step back with Mordecai pulled away. “We just can’t talk where anyone else can hear.”
"I am staying because Levi asked it of me." With enough time he could make his way to any country, possibly even one of his allied states, but Levi wanted him here to help with Johan and to stay close, so he wouldn't leave. Not until things were figured out. "I will not abandon him when he is still so newly returned, and I will not leave until I trust that he does not need me. It is not my place to explain any further."
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Mordecai’s expression twitched at Fiori’s words, but was silenced with a curt glance from Levi. He and Fiori seemed like good friends, and Levi seemed to trust him. It would take time for Mordecai to trust him too.
“Shall we move on?” Levi shifted to take his lover’s arm again. “I do want to get changed first.”
Fi relaxed minutely and gave a stiff nod. "Yes. Would it be impolite to ask to see your rooms?" It seemed like a fair exchange. Levi had seen his, barren as they were, and there didn't seem to be much in need of exploring in the castle. He could pace around to get the full layout later.
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“Not at all,” Levi answered with a smile. “I was going to invite you, anyhow.” He wouldn’t change in front of Fiori, not when he could step behind the fancy screen he had and sneak a few kisses from Mordecai at the same time. He turned into the hallway again, eyeing the door to his bedroom just a few steps away. The room filled with both some of the best memories, and the worst night of his life.
Fi nodded, giving the door a scrutinizing look. It wasn't any fancier than anything else he'd seen today, but he supposed it was a nice door. Solid. Some sort of mellow brown wood. Probably strong enough to keep from being hammered down. There wasn't much to notice beyond that, and that was how he realized Levi was stalling. "We should go in, then."
