Among Royalty

XLII

Adrian waited for his guest, huffing at the other's obvious laziness. He looked around the restaurant, soaking in the homey feeling.

He had left his job at the restaurant he worked at a long while ago, knowing how big of an impact it would have had if he were to still do it. And he loved how his boyfriends didn't force him into anything as well.

He sighed, looking at his phone for any calls he missed by a certain person, but there were none.

As soon as he bent down to sip on his chocolate milk, he saw his best friend enter the small restaurant from the corner of his eye.

He whipped his head, glaring at the man who understood the look the second his gaze fell on Adrian's.

He slowly reached Adrian's booth, sitting on the opposite of Adrian, smiling guiltily.

"Vincent." Adrian started.

"How are you doing?"

Vincent got confused at the question, but answered nevertheless.

"Good, good." He said.

"So.. is it true?" Adrian asked.

Vincent knew what he was talking about. He knew his friend would somehow know about it. And it was about time he did.

So he nodded, a genuine look on his face. He didn't feel guilty for not telling Adrian.

Adrian sighed, not knowing exactly what to say. He felt a bit sad that he didn't know about this earlier, as Vincent would tell every single thing that would happen in his romantic life. But at the same time, he felt quite guilty as he had not been able to give as much focus he used to give to Vincent.

"I'm sorry." He said, after a few moments of silence fell on the booth. Vincent didn't know how to reply to that.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, turning towards his friend.

"I've actually doubted a lot about my sexuality before. Remember the time when we'd drool about men online? After doing that quite much, I realised I wouldn't mind being with men at all. But, I was still questioning my sexuality completely. It felt like there was something that I was missing.

"And then, I tried to research about it and come across the term of 'pansexuality'. And that is when I realised I might be pansexual." He said quietly.

Vincent wasn't scared of what Adrian would think about him, at all. He just felt awkward because thus was him accepting it all to Adrian.

"But.. we used to 'drool' on men literally all the time." Adrian said after a few moments.

"Yeah. I didn't tell you then because I wanted to completely be sure of my sexuality before I made claims." Vincent replied.

Adrian nodded, understanding Vincent.

They both stayed quiet, relishing each other's comforting aura after not being able to do so for a long time.

"So, about this guy. What's with him?" Adrian asked, a teasing smirk on his face. And with that Vincent could feel the tension dissipate into thin air.

"Ughh... Okay I met him at a grocery store. You know the cliché 'bumping into him in an aisle' shit. And he really caught my eye. Was filled with manners, it felt as if he was a huge gentleman. It was a week or so into getting to know each other, and he was over at my house, and I swear to God, he is one of the most disgusting beings in the world." Vincent shuddered with a scowl.

Adrian could feel his eyebrows shoot up, a laugh bubbling up at the disgusted face Vincent held.

"Yeah yeah.. laugh away. When you're in your 'potential boyfriend's' house, you try your best to impress him. You know what he did? He used the washroom. After he's done, I realised I needed it too. I go and see that he hadn't flushed at all." Vincent cringed.

Adrian already knew that Vincent hated the man. Vincent loved everything clean and organized, and would constantly bug Adrian to follow a neat schedule, too.

Not that whatever this man was doing could be considered anything other than decent.

"I could not shut up about it! I told him to clean himself after but he wouldn't listen. And on top of all that he would make a lot of racist comments. So I knew it was the end of us." Vincent shrugged.

Adrian laughed, continuing to drink the rest of his milkshake when he felt Vincent's glare directed at him.

"Um well, I forgot to say.. I'm going to Aldrich's Kingdom tomorrow." Adrian said.

Vincent beamed at his friend, happy that he was getting along with the Kings and was happy in his own life.

"Wait... How the hell did you know about me, by the way?" Vincent asked, munching on the nuggets Adrian had ordered for himself.

"Zion had done a security check on me and everyone related to me to know that we're in no harm. You, had caught the head guard, Zenith's, attention. I must say, I think you'd like them." Adrian said with a genuine smile.

"I don't know.. after Chase, that nasty homo sapien, I feel a bit skeptical about dating." Vincent replied.

"Ah at least meet them. They're a literal marshmall-"

"Sir Adrian?" Vincent heard a deep voice cutting his best friend's speech.

He lifted his head at the person who was standing by the booth, and considering the fact that they haven't felt their presence till now was an indication that they might have arrived a second or two ago.

He looked at the chiseled jaw the person had, their dangling earring and necklace glistening under the yellow sun.

Vincent felt enraptured at the person as they talked to Adrian, and when their eyes turned towards him, he felt himself falling in the amber pools.

"Good afternoon, Sir Vincent. This is Zenith." They bowed their head slightly, extending their hand towards the other, their full lips stretching into a handsome smile.

So this is Zenith...

Vincent thought, accepting the big hand as a smile fell on his face.

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