The Union of Violet and Gold

Just be Friends

This Leon guy sure did have a lot of questions, far too many for Emil's taste. With his monotonous voice and stiff demeanor, Emil had hoped that this guy would be the silent type; Emil could handle the silent type, that wouldn't be too bad. But with his luck, that was not at all the case. The royal group made their way down the lavishly adorned corridors towards the parlor where Emil presumed the meeting was too officially occur. The two older men walked several paces in front of Emil and Leon, chatting amongst themselves quietly whilst glancing back at their sons periodically, which discomforted Emil greatly, as if he was being forced to converse with this bothersome prince. Leon walked directly behind Emil and scanned the room inquisitively, pointing out countless items and interrogating Emil, to which he gave little to no response."Is that a picture of your family?" He jumped a pace ahead, gripping Emil's shoulder and whipping him around to look at the large painting on the wall, it had been done when he was around seven, so Lukas must have only been eleven, their father sat in a chair between them with a disgustingly fake smile. Emil had always despised the image, his eyes began to narrow in annoyance, and he jolted slightly under Leon's grip."Don't touch me," Emil quickly moved away from the shorter male and continued walking down the hall, they had fallen behind the two kings, and for once he wished to stay as close to his father as possible. Leon shrugged off Emil's jumpy nature and continued to talk,"You and your brother look nothing like your dad." He stated casually, moving to be at Emil's left side."We get our looks from my.." He quickly shut his mouth, turning his full attention to the nearest window. He never really got to know his mother, but it still upset him to think about her. She just had to die and leave her sons in the harsh hands of their father, he tried not to blame her for his childhood of abuse and loneliness, but it was hard not to; she was dead anyhow not like blaming her caused anyone harm. But this was really not the time to get deep into his oh so tragic backstory, especially with this melding stranger beside him. Leon seemed to note that Emil was uncomfortable and quickly flipped the subject, "Uh so you aren't really into conversation huh?" He looked in the same direction as his partner, as if trying to match perspective with him. Emil sighed, he couldn't ignore this guy forever, well he could, but he was sure to have hell to pay from his father if he came off as rude to the royalty of a kingdom they were trying to avoid going to war with."I talk when I want to." Okay Emil that wasn't exactly diplomatic, try again."I mean, I just don't want to talk right now." Leon gave him a questioning look and his lack of response discomforted Emil. He could feel his face heating up as he fumbled with his words,"Look, I am just not happy about this situation." He fixed his eyes directly on the floor, unsure of what else to say. Leon responded with a solid "hm" and Emil was about to continue with his blabbering before realizing that they had reached the parlor. 'Thank god' he thought to himself in relief, at least now the conversation would be strictly formal with respective dialogue that had been used a thousand times before. Emil quickly tread over to sit down on the lavish bench next to his father, a low rising wood table separated them from a matching bench where the two foreign men sat stiffly beside each other. Their little set up was one of three similar to it in the rather grand space. Floor to ceiling windows let the early afternoon light flood in and Emil recalled many days spent sitting alone or amongst a few visiting parties in the room. Hours spent reading or quietly observing the birds frolicking in the gardens that expanded out at equal level to the room. When he was younger he and Lukas would often play card games over cups of tea or in Lukas's case, coffee. Those memories made him happy, Emil and Lukas might have not always been the best of friends, but they were really each other's only friends. Other than the visits from a young Mathias, whom was being groomed to wed Lukas, it was usually only the two brothers to keep each other company. Emil remembered despising Mathias for many years, he never thought it was right of him to waltz right in and disrupt his time with Lukas. The first time Emil saw him kiss Lukas they were only teens, the taller boy had jokingly shoved Emil's precious brother against a tree and pressed their lips together, even at age nine Emil was very relived to see Lukas knee Mathias in the groin in response to the forced lip lock. Of course that ball busting response eventually became a different sort of nether region involved activity between the two after they married. Lukas could say he disliked Mathias all he wanted, but there was no denying that they were truly in love, and frankly that pissed off Emil to no end. The warmth of anger bubbling below his cheeks snapped him out of his daze, he couldn't zone out anymore, at least not today.
His father was discussing paperwork with the King of Fàn who responded with quick and precise answers, they treated each other like old friends, but there was no denying the tension between them. Emil had a small understanding of what they were talking about: the escape of war, the merger, shared power, keeping the people happy, and of course the words he dreaded most 'the wedding'. How had he been so calm about it less than an hour ago? It was real. It was happening, and he couldn't get out of it. Would he have to actually love this guy? Would he have to be...intimate with him? Oh god please no, he wasn't ready for that. He realized that his breathing had begun to quicken as if he had just sprinted a mile and needed to catch his breath. Calm down, Emil, just sit quietly and don't make a fool of yourself. He straightened his posture, attempting to seem composed, but the moment his eyes fixated on the prince across from him, he almost lost it again. Leon was looking directly at him, well more precisely at his body, what could be formally called 'checking him out'. What the actual hell did this prince think he was doing? Emil glared at him locking gaze with him, to which the other only shrugged, comfortably sitting back in his seat with a bored sigh. The older man beside him must not be as hard off hearing as you would expect a man of his age to be, because he turned to Leon milliseconds after the sigh,"Do you have something to say?" You would expect his tone to be as if daring his son to say a word, but it was more like a desperate ask for Leon to be involved in the conversation. The younger man shifted in his seat before looking up with the same 'I really don't care' expression that had been almost constant throughout their entire visit,"Yes? So like...can you guys tell us why we even have to be here?" He leaned into the armrest of the seat, propping his chin up on his hand and raising his eyebrows questioningly to the older man beside him. At he two kings almost responded in unison, "you have to hear the rules." Emil looked to his father with confusion,"There are rules for us? Like we have a choice in anything whatsoever?" The latter part came out as more of an irritated huff than a statement, but he could tell by the 'do you want me to kick you?' look on his father's face that he had been heard loud and clear."Yes, son, you two are the only thing keeping our people from going to war, and a union between our kingdoms would be very beneficial or us both, so it would be appreciated if you would both take this as the serious matter it is." He shuffled a pile of paper in his hands, straightening it with a tap on the wood table and looking to his fellow king with a look of exasperation, as if Emil just couldn't be any more of a drag on their plans." However I suppose we can continue with these more formal matters later, I'll read off the rules for your arrangement as of now." He nodded to the man across from him confirming that now was a fine time to do this, after they had both nodded in silent agreement, Emil's father gave a short cough as if about to give a speech," Rule number one: you must both be completely agreeing to our demands, we know what will be best for you and for our kingdom..." Emil rolled his eyes, that was no different from how things already were."...Rule number two, all documents handed to you will be filled out and sighed within twenty four hours do being handed to you, I trust that two almost fully grown men can handle a task as simple as that." He glanced up from his paper to Emil and then Leon, which slightly irked Emil, his father was acting as if they were both his son. " Rule number three, in all situations outside of the four of us, you will be completely jovial and in love. Wether that love is real or fake is not important, but the people must believe that you two are a match made in heaven. We want you to kiss, hug, hold hands, just be a happy couple. Is that clear?" He gave Emil a pointed look, already knowing his feelings about that subject. Emil took a deep breath as his father continued on to rule number four and five, but Emil wasn't listening. He was too concentrated on not losing it, he wanted to scream again, he wanted to shove open those large glass doors and run away. He let out the breath shakily, no, he was going to be calm, he wasn't going to freak out, he was just going to go with the flow; just do what his father says and don't flip out, totally easy."And the last of these simple rules...for official reasons of course.." The king coughed and quickened his pace as if slightly embarrassed about what he had to say," you two must consummate the marriage after the official ceremony." He gave Emil a look that sai 'don't you fucking dare freak out' but Emil hadn't even fully processed the statement. Wait...consummate...he had heard Lukas and Mathias talking about that once, and then that night..well Mathias doesn't do anything quietly, and there are very few activities where a person can moan "OHh LUkaS" loud enough for a person down the hallway to hear. Was he going to have to...do the do?? with thiS guy...FoR oFfICIal reAsons!? Oh god please no. Emil felt sick to his stomach and his face felt red hot, the older men were still conversing as if there was no problem at all but he couldn't pay attention. He desperately needed fresh air, don't do it, Emil, don't do it, he jolted upright on to his feet, glancing over to a large pair of glass doors that lead to the garden,"I have to go to the bathroom" he faltered in as formal of a tone as he could muster before less than gracefully running the fuck out of the room. Oh my god Emil that's exactly what you weren't supposed to do. He burst out of the glass doors and made his way through a maze of Rose bushes and flowering willow trees to find somewhere where he could just be alone, which eventually came to be a smooth stone next to a small fish pond. He sat there, and felt the wave of emotions that he had felt the day before wash over him again. God why couldn't he be like Lukas? Why couldn't he just be stable and beautiful? Why couldn't he just be... he tried to hold back the tears that were already forming in his eyes, as he coughed out half laugh half sob. He held his face in his hands, giving up on holding anything back. "You really are a mess."