Let's Kill Caesar

24: Praise Jupiter and his birdies

Endymion shuffled his feet. "What do you want to talk about?"

Bastian scoffed. "I'm in no mood for your bullshit, Endymion. You know exactly what I want."

Endymion paled. This again. I can't. His throat bobbed.

"You think you want it," he rasped. "But you don't. Fuck Bast, you really don't."

Bast sniggered, hands behind his head as he scowled. "Do you seriously think I'm that fucking stupid?"

Endymion shook his head, panic rising. "I don't."

His friend snarled and covered his face with his hands. Bastian stomped closer, eyes glowing with rage. Minty breath tickled Endymion's nose as Bast said, "We both have known for some time." 

We have? Endymion's heart leapt as Bastian took his hands, face softening. "It's just business. That's all these alliances are."

Alliances? Oh thank the gods! He is clueless! Endymion relaxed his limbs and nodded. "Ah yes. I've been sick about it. But Cato is my cousin, you know?"

Bastian smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you finally said that."

Endymion gave Bast an impish smile as the senator kissed his cheek, eyes sparkling with relief. "Our allegiances won't change anything. We're not like the rest of them."

Warmth spread up Endymion's legs as Bast's fingers brushed his face. As Bast pressed their foreheads together, skin warm against the autumn chill. "We're not like the rest of them. I promise."

"I know."

Endymion's voice sounded so small. 

Hours passed and they remained in the rubble, backs pressed to the dirt and eyes turned to the stars. Crickets and frogs made up an eerie symphony in the darkness. 

Endymion sighed. "So are you and Pompey besties now?"

Bast snorted, head lifting a little. "What are you on about?"

"Pompey - he literally said no hard feelings." 

Bast whacked him the arm with a grin. "Oh gods you're a fuckwit."

Endymion smirked and nudged his shoulder. "Yes, good. Get practice in for our Senate debates."

"You start a debate with me and I'll set you up with Clodius. I can't carry an argument for shit." 

"Like Clodius would talk to you." 

Bast scrambled to his feet and pulled Endymion into a playful headlock. "Shit."

He smirked as Bastian gently pulled him onto his knees. "What was that, shit-head?"

Endymion lost his breath on laughter, cheeks burning as his friend shook him jokingly and dropped him like a sack of flour. Endy snorted, fingers rubbing his neck. "I don't think we're allowed to do that in the Senate, Bast."

Bastian sniffed, chest heaving with pants. "Probably. I'll save it just for you then, Brutus."

Endymion struggled to his feet, legs wobbling like jelly. Bast smiled and hooked an am around his waist. "We should get you cleaned up, priest. I doubt your father would be impressed with a bloodied son."

"Tell my brother that."

Bastian sniggered and squeezed Endymion's hip. Even in the darkness he could see the pity in his eyes.

"C'mon, you can crash at my place - it's too late to dillydally. Besides, it won't be crowded. Cassiel will be out with other delegates talking Vero up."

Endymion chewed his lip. "I can be around him. All that stuff...don't even worry."

"Okay."

Bastian nodded awkwardly and led Endymion to his car. Not the sports-car, but a cute little red beetle. His friend rubbed his neck, cheeks reddening. "I know it's nothing fancy-"

"I like it." Endymion smiled, nodding shyly. Bast wrinkled his nose, tentative smirk creeping across his lips. 

"Just get in the car before you chop your whole ear off Brutus."

Endymion rolled his eyes and slipped in, heart pattering. The car was neat as heck. No loose fast food receipts, forgotten travel mugs or scrunched up shopping bags. A crescent shaped air freshener hung from the rearview mirror, filling the car with the scent of strawberries and cream. As Bastian settled into the driver's seat Endymion said, "This is neater than my room, Bast. You never cease to blow my mind." 

"Spoken like a true car slob," he laughed, shoving the senator's shoulder playfully. "Don't forget - I've been in your car before."

Endymion blushed and leaned his knees against the dashboard. "That was Aelius's  car and you know it, Octavius." 

Bastian sniggered, roughly reversing the car back onto the beaten track. Endymion exhaled slowly, shoulders finally, truly, relaxing. He leaned his head back as Bastian wound down the windows and turned up his playlist of bouncy pop music. Cool night air thick with the last clinging remains of last summer tousled their hair and chilled their cheeks. Ahead of them, just through the trees, lay the real beauty. 

Endymion couldn't help but lean forward as the last of the trees fell behind them. A velvety cobalt and indigo sky hung over Rome. The moon shone with silvery brilliance, yet it did not outshine the stars. Like millions of jagged opals, the stars shimmered against the dark. They arranged in intricate constellations and fragments of a long left behind time. A simpler one. 

"Do you think they are watching?"

Bastian frowned and glanced at Endymion. "Who?'

Endymion's throat bobbed. "The people in the stars."

He expected his friend to laugh, call him a child. That's what his father or Cato would have done. Bast did neither. 

Endymion's soul left his body as a hand reached over and took his. Their fingers intertwined as friends' hands often did. Bastian squeezed gently, breath light as stardust. "I do. That's why the gods put them there - to watch over us."

Endymion swallowed hard, heart hammering as he realised Bast wasn't pulling his hand away. His hands had a heartbeat of its own as they drove along. The bright lights of the city pulsed in the inky black. Bright bursts of pink, saffron, maroon. So sickeningly artificial against the precious starlight. As Endymion leaned out the window a pair of proud eagles soared overhead, screeching defiantly amidst the upcoming clamour of car horns and people. Praise Jupiter.