"Don't-Don't touch me,"
In which Noah Harden despised being touched and is dragged in front of three thrones. Noah took one look at those blinking red eyes and was certain he'd made a mistake in vacationing in Volterra. That is, until he realised th...
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"Athena doesn't often come here," Caius spoke calmly, softer than Noah had ever heard him. He was still leaning in the doorway and the human kept his eyes fixed forward. He had a thousand questions to ask but none of them seemed worthy of this current moment. What could he even say after all that he'd heard?
"She told me that she stays in her tower with Donnatella, they seem very happy with the arrangement," he ran the fabric of his shirt between his fingers, wishing to go and retrieve his gloves but thinking better of leaving right now. What would come of this conversation? Would it be best to leave now before it got impossibly awkward?
"She told you everything?" Caius questioned, calm ever still and Noah had the urge to turn and face him. Again, he resisted. Caius and Noah had never shown attraction for one another, they'd had only a handful of conversations and almost all of them had been uncivilised so why was it suddenly so awkward? What was Caius hiding and why was it of such importance?
"She told me her story and I told her mine," he returned, matching Caius' tone. Was this them pretending again? Pretending to be civilised? Why did it upset him so much to consider that it might all be a game Caius was playing. After how Athenodora had spoken of him and the small amount of interaction he'd witnessed between them-- he couldn't help but think that he knew Caius better, that they were closer... He had to remind himself that they weren't.
"She didn't tell you what role I played in her story?" he questioned, his voice louder now as he approached. Eventually, he took a seat beside Noah, as far away as the bed would allow but the human wished that he didn't have to. He wished to hold his hands as Athenodora had and kiss his cheeks. But it was futile, just because Caius was handsome, it was no reason to be falling so impossibly head over heels for him.
"She told me that after she and Donnatella fled, they met you. She said that you had been disgraced by your family and yet you wed and returned and were accepted. That that was the way it has remained ever since... What I don't understand is what you got out of marrying her?"
"Besides marrying a gorgeous, sweet woman?" Caius wondered, raising an eyebrow but there was so much seriousness on his face, it aged him. "I was disgraced for a particular reason, a reason that Athenodora, Donnatella and I made such an intriguing trio. I had fallen in love," he seemed amused by that. "I had fallen in love with a man." he swallowed then, seeming to gather his bearings and Noah felt frozen. That was until he reminded himself of how he wished people to react when he told them his story. He relaxed and painted an expression of care and nonchalance.
"His name was Silas. I loved him, truly. I was a High-born son, as was he. It all seemed so perfect, even behind all those closed doors and it never occurred to me that it could be anything but. I was young and naive, a fool. I fell too quickly, too easily for a man who I thought loved me back. It was such a miracle to me that he would love me at all, so I grew too attached," he shook his head. This was a side of Caius that Noah had never seen and for a strong, beating moment-- he felt nothing but care and respect for him. The people here, in that castle, had stories to tell.
