The Bars Between (MxM)

7

He stayed true to what he thought, finding ways out of his princely life to go back daily.

It wasn't long until it became his favorite daily activity.

Ryion's entire being would light up each time Adren walked in.

During these visits, Ryion would eat, they'd talk, Adren would try to clean him up a bit, then he'd leave Ryion to the lonely darkness again.

This time, Adren was determined. He had a goal.

The container of water he brought was the biggest yet, along with a rag and small box he kept in his pocket.

A servant tried to help him on his way down. "Oh, my Prince, allow me to carry that." She said, referring to the bucket he held.

Adren shook his head. "I've got it, please return to your duties."

She reluctantly left, eyes lingering on him for a second.

When he made it down to him, Ryion scooted over to the bars like always, a smile on his face. "What's that for?"

Adren handed it to him along with the small bag of food, which Ryion ate, now at a more normal pace compared to the desperate consumption rate he had when Adren first started coming down. "I want to really clean you this time. You're so dirty."

Ryion took a big drink from a cup that Adren had filled and handed to him before giving it back to the boy to fill again. Once the man had the liquid in hand he spoke again. "Then you should probably get to work. This stuff has stuck on for years."

Adren smiled, grabbing the cup from Ryion's hand and placing it on the ground as it was too big to squeeze through the bars. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the rag and opening the small box to reveal a small bar of soap before getting the rag wet and rubbing the soap on it till bubbles formed. He held out his hand, and Ryion extended his own and rested it in his, the man's hand much larger than Adren's.

Adren rubbed the cloth on his hand, gently at first, before pressing harder, the sight of the dirt coming off a wonderful reward.

Ryion's hand was getting rubbed raw, but he didn't say a word, just watched Adren's unblinking trance as he scrubbed.

As soon as one area became dirt-free, he moved to the next. The satisfied feeling of clearing the dirt away didn't fade as he continued to do it, in fact, he could actually see Ryion's skin color now. It was paler than his own, which was to be expected as he hadn't seen the sun in years, but when he looked closely, as he was doing now, there were light freckles peaking out from underneath all the red of the skin as he rubbed it.

Realizing that the red meant that it was uncomfortable, Adren stopped and pulled away. "I'm so sorry, that must hurt."

Ryion shook his head. "I don't mind." He didn't withdraw his now half-clean hand.

Adren, so tempted by that hand, couldn't help himself as he scooted forward, cleaned out the rag, and continued to work. This time being aware of how hard he was doing it and going much slower and gentler.

By the time his whole hand and a portion of his arm was clean, it was the longest time Adren had ever spent down there.

Getting upset with himself for loosing track of time, Adren quickly apologized for the abruptness and said goodbye, hurrying out, Ryion's gaze following his form until it was out of sight.

To say his prolonged absence was unnoticed would be an outright lie. Sure, he'd gotten a short lecture about his previous disappearances, but this time was different.

This time he stayed down long enough for people to notice.

When he accidentally ran into Larabella, a servant, she looked at him with relief on her face. "Oh, Prince Adren, thank goodness you're okay!"

Adren scrunched his face up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"The King's had guards looking all over for you."

Adren's eyes widened. "Really?" Larabella nodded. "Oh no." He muttered before rushing out, heading to his fathers office before any more trouble was caused.

He hesitantly raised his fist to the wood. Taking a deep breath, he knocked twice. A deep voice answered, "Enter."

Adren slowly pushed open the door, seeing his father bent over looking at some parchment. He felt his chest sink. Even when he was thought to be missing, his father was still at work, not making time for him. His father rested his pen down, then raised his piercing blue eyes, a frown deepening when he saw who it was. "Adren, where have you been?" Every word was forceful and angry.

"I was just... out. Just having a bit of fun." He quickly realized he should've thought of a better lie before knocking on the door.

His father stood up, hands pressing hard against the wood desk. "The castle was near panic all because you were playing?"

Adren looked down. "I'm sorry, I should've been more aware of time."

"Well you're going to make up for it tomorrow. Perhaps a day full of supervision and work will teach you your lesson."

Adren's eyes widened. His father had given him the worst punishment he could.

He wouldn't be able to see Ryion.

And he had no way of telling the man that.