The Palace Guard (MxM)

I

Nikkol was standing guard in near the throne room, just like he found himself doing every day.

And nothing was happening.

Just like every day.

His eyes stayed on the stone wall in front of him.

The same stone wall he had to stare at every day.

At this point in time, he had every stone memorized and could easily paint the whole thing perfectly from memory.

If he had any artistic skill, that is.

Nikkol knew he shouldn't complain. He did his time, worked his way up to the nice comfort of the indoors, away from the relentless sun that had beat down on him for years as he had to stand guard outside the castle, but it still didn't satisfy the deep seated need in his chest for adventure, excitement, purpose. The constant longing for something more.

He had the good shift too. The one where one got to go out with their friends during the night and drink and enjoy themselves, possibly meet girls that would become something more. But Nikkol still found himself bored.

The mornings were some of his favorite times. Where they'd take a few hours to touch up on their fighting techniques. It wasn't exactly the adventure that Nikkol looked for, but it was something.

The clanking of metal footsteps brought Nikkol back to from his thoughts. The later shift was there to relieve them. He waited until his replacement, an old guard named Cinadol, stopped right beside him, like he did every day, and then Nikkol marched off himself, his back straight, head high, and steps impossibly practiced.

Their kingdom, Takkoria, was known for the large amount of people, so naturally the guards and soldiers there were large in numbers and highly trained, every move had to be perfect.

And every move was.

Every step evenly spaced, probably stepping in the exact places they had been the day before, and the day before that.

After changing in the guards' armor room, Nikkol headed out into the dark of the night, heading straight for the tavern. The cool air felt nice as it brushed through his loose casual clothing as he rushed forward, free of all the hot weighty metal he wore all day, but posture still perfect, steps still measured. It was easy to tell he was a palace guard, as it was with everyone else who worked as one.

The tavern was warm and noisy when Nikkol walked in, filled with people getting off work, travelers, and whoever else wound up there. A bard played on the small stage, different than the usual one. He wasn't very good, but it was still better than the noisy chatter filling the air.

Nikkol quickly found Edgal, his best friend, also a palace guard who was stationed quite a few posts away from him. Edgal always arrived earlier than him since he was faster at changing and currently was in their usual table, chatting up the barmaid that would always lightly flirt with him. His attention didn't shift when Nikkol sat down.

"Edgal!" Nikkol said, amused. "A long day at work and you can't even offer the pleasure of your company."

Edgal looked over, the barmaid taking his momentary distraction to slip away and do her work. He quickly looked back at her, his eyes disappointed. "I almost had her that time." He whined. "Now I have to try to find some other woman."

"Don't act like an overgrown child, you always find one."

Edgal smiled. "True." He looked over and eyed his best friend. "But you don't. Think you're gonna be successful today?"

Nikkol groaned. Even though he was his best friend of many years, Edgal didn't really get him. "It's not a lack of success, I just have less of a need to hook up every night. Most nights I just prefer the quiet and calm." That wasn't entirely true. Like the rest of his life, sleeping with these random women every night had become boring. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy his time with them, there was just no eventful or interesting thing that happened that would be that different from the night before, it just became another part of his routine. It didn't really excite him as much as it did when he was several years younger.

"You're just jealous because women like me more than you." Edgal said, obviously joking.

Nikkol scoffed. Between the two of them, Nikkol had the better looks. Women wanted him and would often come onto him, which was something that very rarely happened to Edgal.

"Well you don't have to be mean about it."

Nikkol laughed, leaning back in his chair. This was the best part of his day, sitting in the tavern and talking to Edgal. Sometimes some of their other friends would join them, and Nikkol loved those times too, but perhaps it was just Edgal's presence that made his time off so interesting. Every conversation was different and perhaps that's the best Nikkol could ask for.

Edgal leaned to the side of his chair, looking at something behind Nikkol. "A woman's looking over here! I think she's interested in me."

Nikkol looked over his shoulder, seeing a comely young woman sitting with her friend. They both giggled when Nikkol sent over a wink in their direction.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Edgal whined, seeing their attention had now shifted.

Nikkol laughed again. "I'm sure that they'd still gladly jump in bed with you."

Edgal looked at him in a way that showed unamused disbelief. "Not now they've gotten a look at your stupid face."

"Oh, you have so many redeemable qualities. Why don't you jump onstage with the bard and woo them with your top notch singing ability?" Edgal had a horrible singing voice.

One time, Nikkol had gotten him drunk enough and he did join the bard onstage, belting out words that made no sense together in a singing voice that happened to fluctuate in pitch and be incredibly boring at the same time. Not like Nikkol could judge, he was terrible at singing too.

"And let you go chat them up? I bet by the end of the night they're going to be fighting to get in your lap."

Nikkol snuck a look back again. "I think they already are." The girls were looking at each other, talking quietly, their eyes flicking to Nikkol's table quite often. "I suggest you hurry before your chance with them passes."

"What, you don't want to tonight?"

Nikkol shook his head, gesturing for Edgal to slide out.

"Oh, please? If you take one of them the other will probably be much more willing to go with me." Nikkol shook his head, gesturing again. Edgal sighed, shaking his head. "I sometimes wish that I could see what goes on in your head." He brought his hand up and lightly ruffled Nikkol's hair before getting up. Nikkol reached up with one hand and put light effort in fixing his hair back the way it was. Unlike Edgal, he was never one to care about looks unless it was for the job.

He looked behind him again at his friend, who was talking to one of the girls. The he wasn't talking to, the one who was originally looking at them, looked back over at Nikkol, meeting his eyes with a small smile. Worried that she maybe took the eye contact as an invitation to come over, Nikkol got up and left out the door.

The night air had turned chilly, making Nikkol hug himself as he walked down the street. All guards were offered quarters in the castle, but those that had been there a while or had family's would sometimes move out. Nikkol longed to be one of those few, but they needed special permission from the head guard, a noted lord, or royalty, and he felt he needed a good reason to ask that of someone. But he longed for the change of scenery, maybe it might ease his dislike of his life.

He made his was back to the castle and to his quarters. They were nicer than that of the servants but not nearly as nice as that of the knights. Nikkol wished he came from noble birth, then he would have a shot at getting knighted, and knights went on adventures all the time.

Getting into his bed, Nikkol glared at the ceiling, barely visible in the dark.

If things didn't change soon, he would make them change.

But he knew that it was an empty threat, the one he made every night.

Nikkol went to sleep, fully prepared for the next day to hold the same as every other.