The Saintess and the Villainess

A Tale of Two Princes - Chapter 11

When a man invited Sebastian to bed, he generally had certain expectations—some quick, exciting, and blessedly distracting fumbling in the dark, followed by an awkward distancing as reality set in. Some of his partners had been more skilled or more kind than others, and a few of them had even stuck with him for a couple months before the inevitable distancing, but a vast majority of them had made an excuse to leave or kick him out as soon as they were satisfied.

All of this and more was swirling through Sebastian's mind as he followed Elyon to bed, full of excitement for what was to come and dread for what would no-doubt follow after.

Elyon pulled back the covers and laid down on the right side of the bed, patting the empty space on the left to indicate it was for Sebastian. When Sebastian laid down next to him, Elyon leaned over to kiss him again, light and quick like a greeting. "Goodnight," said Elyon.

And then, much to Sebastian's shock, Elyon went to sleep.

It was an odd experience, sleeping with a man, just actually sleeping with him. It took a while for Sebastian's emotions to settle down enough for him to even try to fall asleep, but once he did he was surprised by how natural it felt. Elyon didn't cling to Sebastian, but he didn't try to avoid touching him either. They shared an easy kind of closeness, a different sort of intimacy than anything he'd experienced before. It felt peaceful, comforting, and, amazingly, safe. Something about Elyon's presence—his warmth and the weight of him in the bed beside Sebastian, not wanting anything from him other than to share the space together—struck Sebastian as somehow, incredibly, profound.

Sebastian's dreams, as he dozed, were full of little birds flying free and happy way up in the sky, out of reach of cages and knives and scared little children.

When Sebastian opened his eyes again, sunlight was shining into the room and Elyon was already awake, looking at him with a gentle smile on his face.

"Good morning," said Elyon. His hair was mussed and his clothes were disheveled, but he already had his spectacles neatly perched on his nose. The image was, to Sebastian, utterly delightful. He couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Good morning," Sebastian said.

They kissed again, gentle but lingering, and Sebastian savored all the casual easiness of it.

"So," said Sebastian, pulling back to get a better look at Elyon. "What's the plan for the day?"

Elyon's smile disappeared, his brows creasing into a look of serious concern, and Sebastian's heart sank. Here it was already, the reassertion of reality that always ruined everything. Sebastian never should have brought up anything even slightly serious or practical. He should've just babbled nonsense. He should've just kept kissing Elyon, drawing it out as long as he could, maybe seeing if it could have turned into something more. But it was too late for any of that now.

Or... maybe Elyon still wasn't okay, after all? Whatever was going on with him last night had seemed serious, and Sebastian had no idea how long it generally took for someone to recover from something like that. He felt so stupid and selfish for thinking about his own feelings first when what really mattered was Elyon's wellbeing.

"Well, now that we know Anne and Corvina are safe, we ought to head back to camp," said Elyon. "I told them to meet us there, after all. But before that, we should have breakfast of some sort. And before that, we should go to a tailor shop and get some new forest-appropriate clothing, because I am not going back into the palace to get our old things, and I would rather walk the Path of Ruin than continue to wear these awful robes one second longer than I have to."

Sebastian sighed with relief. That was a highly detailed, practical answer. It seemed like Elyon probably was okay, then. And he hadn't said 'I need to talk to you' or anything like that, so he wasn't actually distancing himself from Sebastian, yet. They could live in this ambiguity a little bit longer.